


Dedicant

by oshunanat



Series: Ketchbriel [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Season/Series 13, Basically everyone but Ketch gets their feelings., But the lightbulb is slowly turning on for Ketch., Even Jack gets it, Gen, Magic, Rowena Ships it, Witchcraft, the friend circle is growing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-11
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-06-08 15:07:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 20,932
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15245979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oshunanat/pseuds/oshunanat
Summary: Ketch settles into his new post-MoL life as an assassin, expands his friends circle, and gets unwittingly embroiled in his own end-of-the-world struggle as he and Gabriel still make sure to make time to get their weekly take-out and chat over Facebook Messenger.Or: I wanted to write a fic centered around Ketch, Gabe, Rowena and Crowley and this is what happened.





	1. Chapter 1

“This is Ketch. I’d like to make a reservation for one, please.”

He held on the phone for a moment, before providing the details and hanging up. Ketch looked around the apartment. It was all sleek lines and glass and antiseptic white, style that belonged in a glossy magazine but was impractical to actually live in.

Or get blood out off, as the case may have been tonight.

Either way, it was a dwelling that was a residence, but not a home. The personal touches existed, of course – the odd photograph, the art on the walls, a pair of shoes safely stowed by the door lest you track dirt further in – but the place still didn’t feel lived in. Didn’t feel homey.

His new house did. He’d bought it off a couple who were permanently relocating to their summer home in Phoenix allowing him to get both a good price on the house but get a good deal on the furniture as well. He was slowly adding his own personal touches to the place, but it was obvious that the furniture had been chosen with love, and not just to be ready for a magazine shoot.

He was broken out of his musing when he heard the van pull up out front and a few minutes later there was a soft knocking at his door.

“Charlie,” Ketch said with a nod as he stepped aside to let the cleaning crew in.

Having to always clean up after himself was one of the major changes he had to get used to working as independent, so learning the cleaners existed had been a godsend. His last job had topped off his bank account, this one was as much a means to build up a supply of coins as anything. Speaking of, he took out the burner phone he used for these jobs to send in his confirmation

“We’ll take it from here,” he said politely.

Ketch nodded. “Thank you. Have a good evening.”

“You too, Mr. Ketch.”

*

“So you’re going to have a housewarming party, right?” Gabriel asked as he helped Ketch pack a box of books.

“Why would I have one of those?” Ketch asked.

“Because you got a new house! Duh! It’s something to be celebrated!”

“Even if I wanted to, who would I invite?”

“Rachel, John, Karena, David, who has a new girlfriend named Julie, by the way. He’s been wanting to get together to introduce us.”

“That’s not much of a party,” he replied ruefully.

“So have a housewarming dinner. You can even order in. None of us would judge, and there’d be no clean up!”

“You really want me to have this party, don’t you?”

“They’ve been wanting me to throw a party…” Gabriel said with a grin.

Ketch laughed. “So you want to get out of the obligation by having your “boyfriend” do it?”

“I’ll help you clean up,” he sing-song-pleaded as he gave Ketch puppy eyes.

“Oh, fine,” Ketch said as he gave another stack of books to Gabriel. “Be careful of this stack, would you? They’re first editions, no porn, though.”

Gabriel wagged his eyebrows. “I know what I’m getting you for a housewarming gift.”

*

“So get this,” Gabriel said excitedly. “In the row behind us was this annoying dick who kept heckling. It wasn’t enough to get him kicked out, but just enough to make you wish he’d like spill his beer on himself, you know the type.”

Ketch hadn’t before that night, but he had to say he hadn’t been too impressed. But that was at the game. Now, he was content to top off his glass, as well as those of his guests.

“So anyway, it’s the bottom of the fourth, a tie game, and the bases are empty. Andújar steps up to the plate and pops this shot up and it’s heading straight for Ketch. It all but lands in his lap when suddenly, the douchebag reaches down in an attempt to snatch the ball away. Before he can get away with it, Arthur just _grabs_ his wrist.” Gabriel began imitating him. “Drop it,” he said. “Now.” Gabriel’s voice switched back to normal. “You can see that he doesn’t want to let go, but Arthur’s grip is like a vice and he can’t get free no matter what he does. He fumes, he curses, and finally relents and drops the ball. Arthur let’s him go and turns and hands the ball to a six-year-old girl who has just been entranced this whole time. The guy stomps off, Dad buys Arthur a beer and the inning ends when Andujar pops a fly into shallow center field. Suddenly, the guy comes back with a security guard, claiming that he’s been assaulted and he wants us thrown out.”

The entire row, sick of this guy’s nonsense all started talking up how he’d been obnoxious, and that he was trying to steal the ball and got thrown out himself. It was amazing!”

“So you got the whole experience, huh?” John said. “Would you go back again?”

Ketch opened his mouth to answer when his phone rang. There weren’t many that had this number – the burner phone he used for work was safely stashed in the bedroom. He pulled it out and his eyebrow arched as high as it went when he saw Samuel Winchester’s name popping up on the text. “If you’ll excuse me,” he apologized. “I must take it.” He flashed it quickly in Gabriel’s direction before retiring to his kitchen, the archangel following behind. Once inside, he put it on speaker so Gabriel could listen too.

“Samuel,” Ketch said. “This is a surprise.” He was pretty sure the Apocalypse would have actually succeeded before he’d heard from them again. “Not that it isn’t a pleasure, but I’m hosting a dinner party and would like to get back to my guests.”

“A dinner party?” Sam asked dumbly.

“Yes. Your invitation must have gotten lost in the post. Now how can I help you?”

“I need to talk to Gabriel.”

Ketch rolled his eyes at Gabriel, who smiled.

“So contact himself yourself.”

Ketch could practically picture the bitch face as Sam retorted, “Don’t you think that I’ve tried? I don’t have his number, Castiel can’t find him, and when I tried calling Rowena turned me down flat. She was being really cagey, only saying she was in Europe and she wasn’t going to come back in a hurry. She then said to call you, because you sicced Gabriel on her before, so surely you’d know where he was at now.” Sam clearly found the words coming out of his mouth hard to believe, only further underlying the desperation that Ketch assumed Sam must be feeling to actually going through with calling him.

And yet, he couldn’t blame her for telling Sam to call him instead. The Winchester’s allies and friends didn’t have the best track record when it came to safety. Crowley might make a fine witch someday, but he suspected there would be a fair learning curve since he no longer had his powers. Staying away was probably the best for both of their continued survival, death proofing charms notwithstanding.

“Right,” he said. “First, I did not sic Gabriel on her, I stopped Gabriel from killing her. Second, have you tried praying to him? I can assure you that he is quite responsive.” It’d been quite handy when they’d been in Time Square and there had been so many tourists that it became easier to reconnect by him praying than trying to call him on the cell.

“Well yeah, of course,” Sam said.

“And he didn’t respond?” Ketch asked to confirm.

“No,” Sam said, sounding frustrated.

He looked at Gabriel, who nodded in confirmation.

“Then you have your answer. Respect it. He’s not your errand boy and I’ll not nag him for you.”

Ketch hung up as he could hear sputtering in the background.

Gabriel cackled. “Did you just hang up on Sam?”

“I did,” Ketch confirmed. “What did he want?”

“Something they’re more than capable of handling,” Gabriel said dismissively. “C’mon, let’s get back to the party.”

“Hold up, I’ll be out in a moment.” Ketch said as he opened his facebook app. He’d finally gotten his own account as Gabriel asked, albeit under an alias. They’d found a quaint group called “Winchestered,” where Hunters talked about encounters with the brothers. Many of the posts were reverential. And then there were posts like his.

_That feeling when the brothers barely tolerate you but are clearly surprised when you don’t jump to do them favors._

He shoved his phone back into his pocket and rejoined the others.

“Apologies,” he said. “Now where were we?”

*

The dinner had been a true success, and as a bonus, he’d been able to stock up his wine cabinet.

Gabriel had stayed behind to help clean up.

“You’re addicted to this,” Gabriel said as he watched Ketch check the comments.

“And you’re not?” Ketch asked. “You’re the one who joined first.” He looked up. “Pair of eyes, pairs of eyes, cup of tea?” He fully admitted he still had problems with emojis.

“They want gossip,” his friend confirmed. “What went down.”

Ketch scrolled the other comments as he finished his wine. “Many do seem surprised I didn’t help them.”

“I can’t imagine that too many say no when they don’t have to.”

“Rowena seems amused.”

 _Called ya did he?_ she had commented. To his surprise, she was already on the community. Apparently, Crowley had been lurking since the first days of the community and he’d told her about it.

Ketch studied his emojis carefully. The eye roll emoji was one he’d learned rather quickly. He set a pair of them in. _Did you really have to tell him to reach out to me?_

 _Some things never change._ Crowley had opined.

 _Like their flannel,_ Gabriel had replied in returned. He liked the boys, truly, but they and Castiel were like the sartorially blind leading the fashion challenged and he was afraid they’d take Jack down with them.

“That might be a first,” Ketch said.

“Are you going to give them what they want?”

“No need to,” he said. “Just look at the thread,” he said sounding proud. “It looks like I’ve gotten others complaining too.” He drained his glass and placed it in the dishwasher. “All in an all, an excellent night.”

 *

John Barrios - > Wichestered

_So how DOES one come back from the dead (as a human). I mean, if Sam and Dean can do it, we can do it too, right?_

After the sensible advice of “simply don’t die,” and “get adopted by an angel in a trenchcoat” a naïve soul had suggested “Magic? There’s a charm for that, isn’t there?” not knowing what fresh hell she’d unleash with such a simple comment.

There were generally two groups in the community: those who saw magic as a necessary evil tool to be used in the Hunt, but then only to be used a strictly as-necessary basis and those who hated all magic and all those who practiced any form of it and believed they should burn with fire. Saying the “m” word would inevitably descend into an absolute mess in the comments, including numerous threats against witches. He’d seen Rowena get pretty testy in the past, and really it was only a matter of time before she said something that would give her away.

*

Group Chat: Sewing Circle

Alexander Smith: Rowena, I’d advise you not check out Winchestered today.

Tabitha Cabot: Oh dear, why not?

Arthur Grimble: They’ve started “discussing” witchcraft again, Mother.

Tabitha Cabot: But I’m in a fighting mood! *sigh* Fine! What are they going on about this time?

Alexander Smith: Your get-out-of-death charm. The one side is saying if it gives them insurance to continue to Hunt then why not use it?

Gabriel Fox: They think they can do it themselves too.

Arthur Grimble: Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

Tabitha Cabot: You’re having me on, aren’t you? They’d burn up from the inside out if they tried!

Gabriel Fox: Maybe we should give them the spell.

Alexander Smith: That does sound tempting now that you mention it…

Arthur Grimble: You do realize that Sam and Dean would probably figure it out in three seconds flat?

Gabriel Fox: Booo!

Arthur Grimble: *rubs head* Ow! Was that really necessary?!

Tabitha Cabot: That’ll teach you to spoil our fun!

*

Ketch had to throw his weight against the door of the chapter house to get it to open; a good sign suggesting that it hadn’t been touched since the American branch had died out back in the day.

Curiosity had compelled him to seek out the nearest Chapter House. While the technology would be outdated, it didn’t mean that the rest of the contents would necessarily be obsolete.

He coughed at the mustiness in the air and used his flash light to find the light switch. Once he did, the generator groaned as everything came to life.

He was standing in a narrow hallway. The standalone chapterhouses were laid out alike, so three of the four rooms before him would be bedrooms, and the fourth room was a group bathroom. At the end of the hall to the right was a small galley kitchen and eating area, and to the left of it was his actual target: the ops center.

The room was a ¼ of the size of the similar area of the Bunker, but it contained what he’d hoped to find: a small library of and a small weapon cache. He had never been much of a lore guy, but who knew what he’d fine here – it was probably basics, but maybe he could be surprised. If nothing else, his house had a floor to ceiling bookcase that begged to be filled and these would do nicely. The weapons cache was a hit. The guns he’d probably offload discreetly; he preferred his modern versions, but there was absolutely a market for them. But the knives he would keep. Though they needed some TLC, they were still sharp and well honed. The silver stiletto was an especially nice find as he didn’t have one in his current collection.

By the time he’d finished packing everything up and shutting the boot of the car, he was sweaty, but well pleased. This little road trip had been quite worth it.

*

“Welcome to A Novel Idea,” Gabriel called out without looking backwards at the ring of the doorbell. The archangel had gotten a job there because he enjoyed the interaction with the public, and it let him get first dibs on new books traded in.

“Hello,” Ketch called back, setting the box down on the counter. It turned out that library had been a mixed lot – books required by the Men of Letters, some more obscure titles, and a rather random collection of fiction that was probably used as entertainment in the days before television. He’d taken a few for himself, but there had been some duplicates, or he’d already owned different versions of the same books.

“Ketch!” Gabriel said sounding pleased. They’d mostly been chatting via Facebook the past few weeks, both having gotten tied up in the minutia of their daily lives. “What brings you in?”

“You know I went to check out the Chapterhouse, right?”

“Oh yeah! These the spoils?” he asked as he started sorting through the books.

“I divided the books into three piles: good reference books, books I need to review, and books that are obviously not related. This is what remains of that latter group.”

“Let’s see what you got,” Gabe said rubbing his hands together in excitement. The Archangel worked efficiently, dividing the books into stacks whose meaning Ketch couldn’t quite discern.

“These,” he finally pronounced, “if you don’t want them just donate them. We aren’t really buying paperbacks right now, and the hardbacks are either too late edition to have any value or the condition isn’t where we can use it.”

Ketch nodded.

Gabriel put his hand on the second stack of about a half-dozen books. “I can give you say…” he hummed to himself “$45 cash or $80 credit for the stack. They’re solid books.”

“Credit is fine,” he agreed. The store was pretty good about turning over stock and he usually found something new whenever he went in.

Gabriel’s fingers drummed on the final stack of four books. “These are the really interesting books. Some first editions and first US editions. I’ll have to show them to the boss-man to quote, is that okay?”

“That would be quite all right.”

“Perfect!” he said. “We’ll do dinner after he’s had a look? Let’s go for Pad Thai. In Bangokok.”

Well, Gabriel _did_ give him advance notice they’d be going overseas this time.

“Just let me know when.”

*

Chat: Tabitha Cabot

Alexander Smith: May I pick your brain about grimoires?

Tabitha Cabot: Of course, dearie.

Alexander Smith: Does _In incantationibus et carminibus vicibus suis_ have any real value?

Tabitha Cabot: It’s a good beginner book, I’ve got Fergus practicing out of it. There are tons of copies of out there, so there’s not much to be made there. Maybe you should give it a try.

Alexander Smith: *wry smile* I’ll take it under advisement. What about the _Grimorium Verum_?

Tabitha Cabot: Handwritten or printed?

Alexander Smith: Handwritten, it would seem.

Tabitha Cabot: …

Tabitha Cabot: You might have something there. Tuck it away safe, and don’t tell anyone else. We’ll talk later.

Alexander Smith: Understood.

*

“So Rowena’s interested in the text?” Gabriel said as the pair perched on a set of stools in a stall half the size of the tiny ramen shop they’d frequented in Tokyo. Ketch was rather impressed that something could be so small yet actually be a fully functioning business.

“It would appear so,” he said. “The text appears to have been around for some time in various forms. There’s even a translation of it on Amazon.”

“Which would mean it’s probably not very threatening,” Gabriel suggested.

“That’s my thought. But this is handwritten, so maybe there is something to it. The translated versions also are based off of French and Italian copies, but mine is in Latin.”

“Ooh, the plot thickens.”

“Witches have been hunted for centuries, the Men of Letters certainly did since the time they were founded for sure. I’m sure this must have been picked up off of someone they brought in. Perhaps the Chapter didn’t realize what they were sitting on.” Ketch mused. “They wouldn’t have had the same resources, it’s possible they didn’t know they were sitting on a rare copy. Either way, would you mind keeping it someplace safe for me? You know. Just in case.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Gabriel agreed. “But enough work talk,” he said as plates were put before them. “We have delicious food to consume.”

Ketch tilted his bottle of beer in Gabriel’s direction. “That, we do.”

*

The Chapterhouse netted Ketch almost $2000 by the time everything was said and done – not a bad little profit for a couple of hours of easy work. He had a full row of solid reference titles, and he’d managed to weed out some books that were now obviously obsolete.  There was still a few books that required more research, which was slow going due to the lack of readily accessible databases that had information he’d needed. And yet, even as he did his research, his thoughts kept drifting back to that spell book.

It wouldn’t _really_ hurt to give it a shot, would it? The book was mostly protective magic. One could never have enough protection, especially in his line of work. If he could learn some offensive magic, well, that would just be a bonus.

On the other hand, he didn’t think Gabriel was terribly fond of witches, and the angel had grown on him enough for him to actually take that into consideration.

He picked up his phone.

*

“You’re not going to be selling your soul to a demon to get magic, right?” Gabriel asked as he munched on something in the background.

“The _last_ thing I’d ever do, trust me.”

“Good!” Gabriel said. “Then we have no problems! But if I find out you do, or you start going down that route with your magic, I’m going to kill you. Twice, to make sure you stay dead. Because that kind of stupidity means you don’t deserve to live.”

*

Ketch couldn’t help but agree with Gabriel’s assessment, and yet the conversation had eased his trouble mind.

He pulled out a phone and sent a text.

 _I’ve finished reading the_ In incantationibus et carminibus vicibus suis. _What’s a good place to begin?_

He did not get an answering text, but instead, his phone rang.

“You’re serious?” Rowena asked.

“Quite,” he said. “I mean, it seems silly to not use all tools available to me.”

“Aye,” she said. “And your winged friend doesn’t mind?”

“His objection was that you let Lucifer free.”

“In hindsight, that wasn’t the best decision.”

“We all have our regrets. He did let me know I’d regret it if I got too black with magic, he’d make sure that I died and stayed dead, so there is that.”

“You don’t strike me as someone interested in necromancy.”

“I’m high enough maintenance as it is, I don’t need to keep minions to boot.”

She laughed. “Fair enough. You’ve got plenty to work through before you get to that kind of heavy lifting. I’ll send ye the lesson plan that I drew up for Fergus.”

“You made lesson plans?” Ketch asked, sounding surprised.

“Well of course,” she said, sounding offended. “I didn’t get it to do it right last time, so I’m making amends. You’ll never match my raw power, but if you study up right and build it up properly, there’s still plenty to be accomplished without needing that demonic taint. Feel free to ask questions along the way. I like the idea of Fergus having someone nipping at his heels. He’s the most motivated when he has competition.”

“It’s a race?”

“Everything in life is, dearie. It’s how you become the best.”

Ketch supposed it was hard to argue with that.

*

Ketch stared up at the entrance to Enchantments. Rowena had recommended it as being one of the few reputable suppliers that she trusted. Taking her advice, he’d dressed down. It was just as well, he probably wouldn’t have otherwise, though now that he thought about it, he couldn’t say there were too many corporate witches out there. Or if they were, they certainly didn’t go to the stores after the day at the office.

“Welcome,” a warm-sounding voice greeted him. “I’m Beth. Feel free to look around and let me know if you need any help.”

Ketch nodded and started browsing the shelves. In addition to a rather thorough ingredients list, Rowena had also sent him a supplementary book list that she advised he read up on before getting too deep. Gabriel had joked about Ketch going to Diagon Alley today, and Ketch had replied that he rather hoped that he’d get sorted into Slytherin.

He’d rendered Gabriel speechless, a rare, but almost amusing occurrence.

His amusement at the memory faded as frustration built that he couldn’t find the books he was looking for. The shelves felt very New Agey, texts that dabblers would touch, not anything serious.

“Actually,” he said as he turned back around and approached the counter, “I could use your assistance.”

“Sure,” she said as she moved to meet him. “What are you looking for?”

“My friend gave me this list as a good place to get started, but you don’t seem to have the titles on the shelves.”

Her eyebrows quirked up before a smile settled on to her face. “I’ll have to get these from the back. You know we sell these in English translation?”

“But not all of them,” Ketch said, “And not the most important one. Plus never work in translation when you don’t have to.” Even without Rowena’s advice to stay with the Latin (“only those stupid enough to sell their soul for magick do their spell work in English”) he’d sought out the Latin once he’d known they were still available. He wasn’t a lore guy, but he still kept his Latin refreshed. He’d been in enough pinches to understand the value of it.

“Are you sure? We really do recommend starting out with the English texts until you get a feel for what you’re doing. You can hurt yourself if you aren’t careful and there’s no shame in needing to use one.”

“Positive,” he said succinctly. “I appreciate your concern, but in this at least, I know what I am asking for. If you don’t wish to sell me the texts, that’s fine, but please don’t waste my time.” He hated being patronized.

She returned with the books a few moments later and watched as he skimmed the pages, Rowena had given him a few things to check for to verify they were the real text.

“I apologize,” she said. “You can’t be too careful. Too many get in their head too quickly and it just ends poorly.”

He nodded as he closed the book, satisfied. “Trust me, I’m all too aware of the consequences.” He handed her the other part of his list. “I’ll need these as well.”

“Of course,” she said as she started bustling behind the counter, gathering jars and boxes to pull the supplies he’d need. As she did, she seemed to catch a glimpse of his scar. “Dedicant of Loki’s?” she asked. “Are you branching out then?”

“Yes and no,” Ketch said. “It’s quite…complicated,” he said, choosing to leave it at that.

She nodded. “I totally get it. We all worship in different ways, and I’m sure belonging to the Chaos Bringer is never dull.”

Ketch laughed as he pulled out his card. “That,” he said, “is the understatement of the century.”

*

“So how was the apothecary?” Gabriel asked as they unpacked cartons of Chinese. As long as both were in town, Friday was dedicated to takeout and whatever they could agree to on television.

“Once she was done stopped side-eyeing me like a child too stupid to not touch the hot cooker, she noticed the brand and called me an Adherent of Loki, which, in a roundabout way isn’t untrue? I mean, with the ‘real’ Loki dead, that does make you Loki doesn’t it?”

Gabriel wrinkled his nose. “If I wanted to, I suppose I could. I mean, I could do without that whole human flesh nonsense, but having worshippers.” He rubbed his chin exaggeratedly before leering at Ketch. “You could worship me anytime.”

Ketch rolled his eyes. “Make me High Priest and _maybe_ we’ll talk.”

Gabriel swiped the extra roll.

“Hey!” Ketch protested.

“Consider it an offering!”

“Hmph.”

*

Jennifer Barrios -> Winchestered

 _So I stopped at my local psychic to get my tarot read (Shut UP, I know I’m not the only one, don’t make me name names_ ) _and everything was going fine, and then it got a little weird. Like, right after we discussed the Six of Cups she got all glassy eyed and was like “_ Chaos ended but lives on. His marked one will gather strange bedfellows to take on the Morning Star. In his night, a new day begins” _and then she went back to my reading went back to normal like nothing else._

_I went to her because I was pretty sure she wasn’t actually a witch. Is she? Or was she just high and not sharing?_

_Anyone?!_

 


	2. Chapter 2

Alexander Smith: Is it supposed to tingle?

Arthur Grimble: When you take a piss, no. When doing those protective charms on yourself, yes. Sex magic is great for enhancing orgasms, by the way.

Alexander Smith: Speaking from experience?

Arthur Grimble: If only. Rowena was all too happy to describe it, in detail. She said she’ll give me the spells…eventually.

Alexander Smith: What sin are you paying for?

Arthur Grimble: When I was five, I knocked the laundry off the line.

Alexander Smith: I will never understand you two.

Arthur Grimble **:** More’s the pity. You don’t know what you’re missing.

*

“Are you a wizard yet?” Gabriel asked.

“I can protect myself from paper cuts,” Ketch joked. The spell was actually stronger than that, but it was kind of hard to test out. This was just a useful side effect of it.

“A useful skill,” the archangel agreed. “I gave myself one between my index and middle finger the other day. It hurt!” he whined.

“Good thing Crowley never learned how deadly papercuts were. He could have taken out the whole of the Host with no effort at all.”

Gabriel snorted. “How is he?”

“As put upon by his mother as ever, yet seemingly content by it.”

“Family is weird like that.”

“Was that what your relationship with your brothers was like?” Ketch asked. Gabriel didn’t speak much about his siblings, and normally Ketch didn’t pry, but he was curious. He also wouldn’t have been surprised if he got immediately shut down.

“You know, Pluto was supposed to be a lot bigger.”

Ketch blinked. That’s not where he was expecting this conversation to go.

Gabriel picked up a spoonful of red velvet cookie dough and studied it intensely. “When Dad built the universe as a whole, he was in a “set it and forget it” kind of mood, right? Sprinkled some planetary building blocks here, some there and then moved on to the next, that kind of thing. So one day Lucifer and Michael got into it and by the time they were done, the Kupier belt was born and Pluto had 1/3 less mass.”

“You’re shitting me,” Ketch said.

“Am I?” Gabriel said with an eyebrow waggle.

He would never know but would always wonder.

*

So it turned out that the protection spell _could_ do more than just protect Ketch from papercuts. It could turn what should have been a big wound _in_ to a papercut.

He’d gotten wind of something that had suspiciously felt like vampire killings only a few hours away, near the New Hampshire border. He’d been lucky – it was a lone vampire – his nest mates had been killed by the Winchesters (because of course) and he’d been trying to start anew.

The vampire was desperate and desperate meant sloppy, something Ketch could use to his advantage. Although he had continued to spar with Gabriel since that day back in the hotel, there was no question he was fighting far less than he had when he’d been a field operative with the Men of Letters and he was rusty. He was going to have to join a sparring gym when he got back.

He dodged a knife blow – well, _mostly_ dodged a knife blow. The vampire got in a good blow on his side. Or what _should_ have been a good blow requiring stitches at the very least instead felt like barely more an angry looking scratch.

The vampire seemed just as shocked as he was.

It was enough for Ketch to shove his bowie into the vampire’s heart, incapacitating it enough to go for decapitation.

If he still had doubts about this whole witchcraft thing, they were very quickly erased that night.

Once the body had been disposed of, he sent a text to Rowena.

_If the protection spells work, why don’t you use them more frequently?_

Despite her initial insistence that she couldn’t be bothered to help him beyond pointing him in the right direction, Ketch found her to be a willing teacher when he asked her direct questions. He suspected that, like most humans, she appreciated her knowledge and skill being recognized and respected and so even though it sometimes took a while for her to respond, her answers were generally helpful.

 _Because no witch of any real skill is going to attack you physically, which is the limitation of those spells – it’s part of the reason they’re so easy to cast. Protecting against magick takes more focus, more skill, and more energy._ _You and Fergus are both a ways away from those yet. You’d be better off learning a good magical offense and combining that with your charms and the protection spells you do know._

Then, about a minute later, a second text came through.

_That, and we’re lazy. Why start your morning everyday renewing a spell that most days won’t do you a lick of good when you can spend those ten minutes getting extra beauty sleep? Priorities!_

He laughed.

He couldn’t argue with that, now could he?

*

Ketch amended his opinion of his skills.

He was still rusty, yes, but some of that rust was simply forgetting what it was like to fight something genuinely stronger than you. He realized with a start that it’d been something like four or five months since he’d fought something with superhuman strength. It was kind of amazing how quickly you forgot what that was like.

That bit of inattention was enough to get him pinned.

“Your attention slipped!” his sparring partner Jake accused as he helped Ketch up.

“It did,” he said. “Not a mistake I normally allow myself,” he added chastising himself. Such distraction could easily get him killed.

“Still, that was very impressive,” the head trainer Leo said. “Your technique could use some work, but you clearly move with the fluidity of a person who has had this ingrained in them. Are you ex-military or something?”

“Something like that,” Ketch agreed without elaborating.

“We have an advanced class Monday and Wednesday, but I also suggest checking out some of our technique classes to.” He reached over and grabbed a schedule. “Here, you can take a look over this, and when you figure out what you want to do, we’ll sign you up.”

“Sounds good,” he said as he folded it up. He liked the feel of the studio and access to the gym was appealing to boot.

“Hey man,” Jake said. “A couple of us are going to go for a pint after we clean up. Want to join us? There’s a bar we like just down the block. We can just walk there.”

Ketch was surprised. Glancing over at some of the guys that Jake was referring to, he wouldn’t be surprised to learn that he had almost a decade on some of them. But if they were will willing to overlook that, he’d be willing to give them a shot too.

“Sounds great,” he said. “Let me just go get cleaned up.

*

David Foster - > Winchestered

_So anyone else hear that rumor about Lucifer sitting on the throne of Heaven? I mean…what the fuck, man?_

Arthur Grimble: **Alexander Smith Tabitha Cabot Gabriel Fox** This _is_ a sick joke, right?

Alexander Smith: **Arthur Grimble** I’m not exactly in the loop anymore, so I can’t say.

Gabriel Fox: **Arthur Grimble Alexander Smith** I nominate **Tabitha Cabot** to talk to the Winchesters.

Alexander Smith: **Gabriel Fox Arthur Grimble** **Tabitha Cabot** I second the motion.

Rowena must have been out as she wasn’t surprising. This rumor was disturbing, but even if true, it wasn’t like he could do anything about it. Ketch tucked his phone away. If there was ever a tomorrow problem, this was it.

Ketch’s phone rang at 2:37 AM.

“Hello?” he said, already awake and alert.

“I just spent _hours_ having conversations with my son that I was not planning on having.”

“Couldn’t this wait until the sun is up, Rowena?” he groaned.

“Fergus is miserable, I’m miserable, so you get to be miserable too.”

“Well done. Right. You’re making me miserable because?”

“You’re going to call the Winchesters and find out the truth of the rumor.”

“I am?”

“Yes.”

“You know they hate me.”

“And if I talk to them, I’ll find a way to kill them through the telephone.”

“That would be bad why?”

“Ketch.”

“Fine, fine. Can I mention Crowley?”

“Why?”

“We both knew that Lucifer was free, and we both were conveniently trying to forget that fact. They’re going to wonder why we’re suddenly interested. If for some reason they aren’t, mentioning him might well be the only reason they actually be willing to tell me the truth.”

He could almost here hear huffing.

“Only if strictly necessary and only if you pass along the threat that they aren’t to reach out to Crowley or else. He’ll contact them if and when he’s ready. To say he’s annoyed at them right now is a wee bit of an understatement.”

Ketch couldn’t blame the ex-demon really. He’d be pissed if his heroic sacrifice was for naught, even if the resurrection made it a moot complaint.

“Very well.”

“Excellent. Talk to you soon then.” Her voice was suddenly upbeat and cheery. She didn’t threaten him verbally, but she didn’t need to. Her reputation was well deserved and then some.

He was about to say goodnight, but he was met with a dial tone.  With a grunt, he put the phone back on the charger. He’d deal with this in the morning.

*

_If my body is found in the next few days, then feel free to forge a will granting you all my belongings._

His phone rang only moments later.

“You’re not planning on doing something stupid are you?” Gabriel asked him, voice full of concern.

“Calling the Winchesters to ask about that rumor.”

“That doesn’t sound _that_ bad. But why? I thought we nominated Rowena.”

“I think the conversation invoked _feelings_ in mother and son and it apparently made Rowena angry enough that she worried she’d kill them over the phone.”

“That would be bad, why?”

“That’s why I said!” He huffed. “Either way, she was insistent that I get the information.”

“And if its true, then what?” Gabriel asked.

“I don’t think she’d be asking if she planned on continuing to hide. Therefore, we do what the Winchesters haven’t. Stop Lucifer for good.”

“I was kind of afraid that you’d say that,” the archangel sighed heavily.

“I’m sorry,” Ketch said.

“I know you aren’t,” Gabriel said, “But I’ll accept it in the spirit it was intended. You can’t help that my brother is the biggest dick hellbent on destroying everyone and everything because Dad didn’t turn a blind eye when he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar.”

Conversation stopped, because really, what could he say to that.

“Never mind me,” he finally added. “if he really is ruling Heaven, he _has_ to be stopped.”

“Well hopefully, it won’t come to that,” Ketch said cautiously, even as he had that sinking feeling that they wouldn’t be so lucky.

“We’ll see,” Gabriel replied.

“We will,” Ketch agreed. “Talk to you soon.”

After hanging up, Ketch stared at the phone. He didn’t know why he was stalling. He wasn’t actually _afraid_ of the Winchesters – he had a healthy respect for them to be sure, but that wasn’t the same. He frowned. He guessed it was the thought of Lucifer ruling Heaven. If Heaven was that fucked, what hope did the rest of them have?

He dialed Sam’s number and waited.

One ring.

Two rings.

Three rings.

“Ketch,” Sam said. Not exactly cold, but not the most welcoming either. He could work with it.

“What do you want?” Dean yelled out over the road noise.

“I’m smashing, Dean, thank you for asking,” Ketch said blithely. He wondered how Dean ever convinced anyone that he was a professional anything given that he couldn’t even master basic manners.

“Ketch,” Sam warned.

“Fine. A simple question then: is Lucifer on the throne of Heaven?”

There was silence on the other end of the line.

He checked his signal, it was still strong.

“How did you hear about that?” Dean demanded.

Well, at least he knew it was true. That was good, for the most terrible definition of good.

“The grapevine,” he replied.

“Why do you care though?”

“How could anyone know and _not_ care?” Ketch demanded. “I told you before that I couldn’t stand the thought of Lucifer free on this earth and that hasn’t changed. If anything, I’ve stayed back because you insisted you had this and Gabriel had, and possibly still even continues to have, faith in you and quite frankly, not doing anything is the safer option. But we have crossed the Rubicon now, haven’t we?”

“And what are you going to do about it?” Dean asked.

“I don’t know yet, but we’ll think of something.”

“Who is this we that you keep talking about?”

“Myself, Rowena and Gabriel.”

“You’re working with Rowena?!”  Dean asked incredulous.

“So you do know where Gabriel is?” Sam asked sounding equally surprised.

“Yes I am, and of course I do,” Ketch said. “We’d be shit friends if we didn’t keep in touch. Anyways, gentlemen, thank you for telling me what I need to know. Have a lovely day.”

He hung up on them.

*

Ketch opened a new message. It was short.

Group Chat: Sewing Circle

Alexander Smith: It’s true. The boys are still unaware that Crowley is alive again.

He waited for several minutes, and when there was no response he put it away. He was still processing, so it would only make sense that they would be too.

*

Ketch decided to delve into research. One of the books that Rowena had recommended to him could have easily been retitled “Hex Bags for Beginners.” The book itself was far from dangerous – he was rather willing to wager that any books that would teach the kind of magick that he knew witches were _truly_ capable of when they put their mind to it wouldn’t actually be so readily available – but it actually made it perfect for what he wanted.

He knew that he was never going to crazy powerful – he wasn’t a Natural, and he wasn’t sure if he’d ever _truly_ put the time an dedication into the craft that he could already tell it would take to truly get anywhere. What he _could_ do, what he _could_ master, were spells that could compliment the skills he had.

Eavesdropping. Distractions. The ability to stop an opponent in a track. _These_ he could make great use of and were benign enough in their own right that he was confident that Gabriel wouldn’t mind him using them.

And yes, he fully believed Gabriel’s threat. The archangel was overall easy going and slow to anger – actually managing to spark it was rare and he had yet to hear an idle threat from him.

He had lost himself in his reading and note taking when his phone rang again.

“You didn’t tell them,” Rowena said.

There might have been an undercurrent of a thank you in there, so he was going to go with that.

“I’d overestimated their cunning,” he said dryly.

“Aye,” she said. “They’re so good at what they do, it can be easy to do that. On the other hand, given their track record it’s better to err on the side of caution.”

Ketch was reasonably sure that anyone who disagreed with that notion likely wasn’t still alive to voice it at this time. He generally small talk as much as he ever did when he was talking to Rowena or her son, but the mood wasn’t right for it. He got down to business.

“So you obviously saw my message,” he said as he fished for information.

“I did,” she agreed. “That is…disappointing…to hear, obviously. How has your feathered friend reacted?” she asked, clearly trying to test the waters. Although one needn’t have a personal grudge to object to Lucifer continuing to walk the earth, he’d argue that Rowena’s spite for the Satan outweighed even that of Crowley’s.

“I haven’t spoken to him since I sent that message; but based on the conversation I had with him prior to calling the brothers, he will not stop us.”

“That’s good,” she said, and then there was a note of weariness in her voice, as if she was afraid to even ask. “Would he consider helping us?”

He paused.

“Maybe?” he said. He believed Gabriel when he said that Lucifer would have to be stopped. But it was one thing to agree that your brother had to be stopped and agreeing to be the one to do the stopping. “If we ask for it, then I feel as if we should make sure that we have as good a plan as we can create. I don’t expect his response to be favorable if we….Winchestered it for a lack of a better term.”

“Can’t say I blame him,” Rowena agreed.

“Do we know where to start?” he said.

“Not really,” she said. “Maybe if you let me borrow the _Grimorium Verum_ …”

Ketch snorted. “Even if I was so inclined,” which of course, he wasn’t, “I gave it to Gabriel for safe keeping.”

“What?” she gasped overly dramatically, as if she was shocked he’d go to such lengths. Maybe she was, but he doubted it.

In the background he could hear the faintest bit of laughter.

“Shut it, Fergus!” she called out, only causing the laughter to get louder.

“You did say to keep it safe,” he pointed out, even as he made a note to ask Gabriel to borrow the book or to see if his friend thought the book would be of any help in this situation. His attention was drawn back to the conversation as he heard her grumble something along the lines of _“too bloody safe,”_ but he ignored that.

“I did,” she said, “And I suppose I have to give you credit for again proving yourself capable of following instructions.”

“Your praise of my prowess is truly humbling,”

“Yes,” she said. “Well, you work your resources and I’ll work mine. Let me know if you find something.”

“I will,” he promised. He could hear Crowley calling out in the background.

“I’m sorry?” Ketch asked. “What did he say?”

Crowley took the phone from Rowena. “Just to be clear, I’m calling dibs on stabbing Lucifer once and for all.”

“I suspect you’ll have to fight your mother for that privilege.”

Ketch didn’t particularly care _who_ did the deed so long as it was conclusively done.

“Yes,” she agreed. “We’ll _talk_ about that later,” she said in a manner that suggested she was probably glaring daggers at her son. “No need to get all putting the horse before the cart. Talk soon.”

Before he could offer his goodbyes, his phone disconnected once more.

He’d have complained about the lack of phone manners – just once it’d be nice to finish a conversation with pleasantries – but he supposed that when plotting to take down the Devil himself a lack of social niceties could be forgiven.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is talking, drinking, karaoke and croissants, in that order.

Surprising no one, despite his best efforts to find it, there was no “Guide to killing Satan” readily available. He’d spent the past few days going through his meager library for any scrap of information that might be of help but got nowhere fast. His next step was to scour the Men of Letter’s resources. Having no hacking skills, he’d had to outsource. A few calls to colleagues he’d met at The Continental had netted him someone with the skillset he needed along with the even more valuable skill of not asking questions. It was still going to take a few days before he heard back, so he was now sitting in a fifties themed diner about 90 minutes out of town.

Gabriel had recently gotten entranced by Diners, Drive-In’s and Dives and _insisted_ that they go and check the places out. Given that he didn’t need to eat, Ketch believed it was because he just wanted to go for a drive. He’d offered to teach the archangel how to drive before but Gabriel genuinely had no interest. Ketch didn’t mind. The car was beautiful to drive and he and the archangel had come to an accord bout how often the entertainment system could be fiddled with so it actually made for a lovely outing.

“What are you thinking of getting?” Gabriel asked as he sipped on a peanut butter chocolate malt. For all that he insisted the sweet tooth was all Loki, he’d clearly played the part long enough to have inherited some of it.

“The Eggs Chesapeake, I should think.” Diner food he’d tried in the past hadn’t appealed, but that had been made with canned ingredients by people barely more skilled than he in the kitchen. From the smells wafting through the restaurant and the appearance of plates walking by, that wouldn’t be an issue here.

“Good choice,” Gabriel said, even though Ketch knew the angel had never been here before. “I was thinking an omelet but haven’t decided yet. I _could_ go blueberry pancake stack. Oh! Before I forget!” He reached down next to him, as if retreating an item from a bag, to materialize a manuscript before bringing it up to table level and handing it to Ketch. “Here’s a translation of that book that Rowena was so interested in.”

Remembering Rowena’s words about not working in translation, he’d opened his mouth to say something before Gabriel added, “I translated it myself.”

Ketch shut his mouth. He was certain that there wasn’t anyone better suited to do a translation than The Messenger of God himself.

“Thank you,” Ketch said.

“No problem,” Gabriel said returning to the menu. “I’m serious though. That book is all _kinds_ of bad. If you find something useful, Rowena does the dirty work, you got me?”

Ketch was about to agree but paused as a shadow fell over their table.

“May I join you?” a gravelly voice said.

Both of their heads snapped up at the too-familiar voice.

“Castiel,” Gabriel said wearily.

Ketch got up and scooched in next to Gabriel, leaving the other half of the banquet for Castiel, knowing that they wouldn’t say no. There was no need to be hostile to him – at the moment anyway- and he really was rather hungry and didn’t want to miss out on his meal because a scene was made.

“Gabriel,” Castiel said taking a seat. He nodded at Ketch. “Ketch.”

“How did you find me?” Gabriel asked.

“I….didn’t,” Castiel admitted. “Ketch admitted that he had your phone number. The last time we asked for it, we got shut down so I decided to ask in person this time. It just so happened that you were here with Ketch.” He paused. “Why are you here with Ketch?”

Just then a glass of water and a menu appeared from a busser who dropped them off quickly before returning to whatever he’d been doing prior to the unexpected addition to the table.

“Having a late breakfast with a friend,” Gabriel answered before adding a delayed “obviously.”

“Why is it so bloody weird to you lot that I’m actually friends with him?” Ketch asked exasperatedly. “Is it because you aren’t?”

“You rescued him strictly because it suited you,” Castiel said. “That doesn’t seem to be the best start to a friendship.”

“You aren’t _seriously_ going to make me go into the hypocrisy of that argument oh rescuer of the Righteous Man right now, are you?” Gabriel said trying to not roll his eyes.

Castiel frowned. “You have a point there.”

“Are you guys ready to order?” asked their waitress, pen in hand expectantly, surprising them all.

“I’ll have the Eggs Chesapeake.”

Savory lost the battle as Gabriel settled on sweet. “Blueberry pancakes with 3 ounces of the local maple syrup,” he said as he handed back the menu.

“Anything for you, honey?” she asked Castiel. “Or did you need more time?”

“Coffee, black,” Castiel said. “I won’t be eating.”

“You got it,” she said. “Food’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Ketch decided to let the subject about the incredulity that Castiel seemed to have about his friendship with Gabriel drop. The brothers didn’t like him, would probably never like, and as a result, would never be able to wrap their heads around the fact that someone else may like him. If they were shocked that Gabriel liked him in spite of his past – and well, current – activities, then they just needed to look in the mirror and ask themselves how they had any friends either.

“Well,” Ketch finally said when no one else spoke. “You did find me and as a bonus you found Gabriel. What was it you so urgently needed to talk about?”

“Now that you know the truth of it, we were hoping you would reconsider your earlier decision to not help us find and take out Lucifer. They are at the bunker now, we were hoping you’d come over so we could discuss more fully what was going on and where we stand.”

“Why do I need to come over? You’re here now, so spill.”

“I’m not sure this is the best place to talk,” Castiel said.

“Like you’ve never had weirder conversations in diners,” Gabriel retorted. “Whatever you were going to say at the Bunker can be said here.”

Castiel looked at Ketch reluctantly. Ketch wondered if there wasn’t some kind of dictate from the brothers that he wasn’t to be involved or if Castiel didn’t want to involve Ketch because he didn’t want to deal with Dean’s inevitable attitude. If he were Castiel, he’d just lie about Ketch being here, but it would make it difficult to explain away how he managed to talk to Gabriel and yet still not get his phone number.

“Think of it this way,” Gabriel said, reading Ketch’s thoughts. “If I hadn’t been here when you swung by, you wouldn’t be having this conversation so you can either talk here, or return to the Winchesters empty handed.”

“Very well.”

“Excellent!” Gabriel said. “So please, Castiel, tell me how the _fuck_ things have gotten so bad that the Host said yes to Lucifer.”

“Desperation,” Castiel said reluctantly. “He said he could create new angels, and in their desperation, they said yes.”

Gabriel and Ketch frowned. How on earth could it be that bad?

“There are not many of us left, brother. A dozen, not counting you and Lucifer and Michael.”

Plates began to rumble ominously before Ketch put a hand on Gabriel’s wrist, and they stopped.

Castiel’s eyes widened at Ketch and opened his mouth as if to say something.

Ketch’s expression barely changed but changed enough just daring the angel to.

He did not.

“ _How_ Castiel. What in the name of Dad has happened to bring us to the edge of extinction?!” Gabriel demanded.

Ketch was actually very curious himself. The Men of Letters knew of the Angelic Civil War, of course, but they’d never been able to parse out any of the details. Unlike the Winchesters, they’d never really managed to make any friends amongst them.

“After we stopped the Apocalypse, Raphael wanted to find a way to start it anew. I could not abide this thought, so I rebelled and many followed in my footsteps. Many of my brothers and sisters followed suit. It was brutal and had no end in sight. Crowley approached me and offered me a deal: we would join forces and open Purgatory. The power within would give me enough strength to defeat Raphael once and for all.”

Gabriel groaned. “Castiel, you didn’t.”

“I was desperate,” he said. “And in my desperation, I did not take them into account.”

Gabriel looked at Ketch. “Dad created Purgatory to seal away the Leviathans.”

Ketch’s eyes went wide. He wondered how many other missing pieces to mysteries that the Men of Letters only knew partial truths of would be revealed before the conversation ended.

“But regardless, instead of the giving Crowley half the souls as promised, I kept them all for myself. I killed Raphael, of course. It was the only way I knew to end the war for good. To ensure peace, I offered clemency to his followers that joined me, but killed the rest.”

A heaviness began to settle in on the table.

“Eventually, I did return the souls to Purgatory, but some of the Leviathan – including their leader – stayed held on and took me over. I died trying to stop them, but for some reason, Father resurrected me once more.  When I came to my senses, I learned that the war that I had gone to such extremes to stop had only continued on in my absence as they had no one to lead them.  We lost even more after Metatron cut us off from Heaven, and well, all told when combined with the fact that we have never been able to replenish our population naturally…we get to where we are. There are barely enough to even keep Heaven running. We _need_ you Gabriel. Desperately.”

The waitress returned with their food.

Neither one of them particularly felt like eating anymore.

*

He ate anyway.

Conversation of the very oddly localized earthquake had already begun to die down – human inability to cope with things they couldn’t explain could come in handy sometimes – but Gabriel practically vibrated with the rage he was holding on to.

Ketch eating made Gabriel eat.

Gabriel eating meant Gabriel wasn’t smiting Castiel.

Ketch was pretty sure that smiting Castiel would feel satisfying but reducing the angels’ numbers even further could only be considered counterproductive at best. The mood at the table was as icy as Lucifer. He’d eaten half of his meal and wondered if Gabriel had even blinked in that time.

Castiel was feeling it too. He hadn’t said anything, trying to regroup and figure out the best way to proceed. When three-fourths of the pancake stack had disappeared, Castiel finally felt brave enough to speak.

“Please…” Castiel said. “Please don’t spite our brethren because of my sin. What I have done is unforgivable, but they do not deserve to be left hanging for it.”

Gabriel took a breath.

“I’m _pissed_ at you Castiel, don’t get me wrong, but I’m not that much a dick. I don’t know what Dad wanted for us, but I know this wasn’t it. I honestly don’t know what I can do, but I’ll look into it.”

Castiel sighed. “Thank you, Gabriel.”

“Don’t thank me yet. I’m going to look into it, and if I can help, I will. But am I going to join your suicide mission to stop Lucifer? No.”

“But –“

“Look, does he need to be stopped? Yes. Do you have an actual _plan_ to stop him? Or are you hoping on the infinitely deep pool of luck that Dad has given you to let you scrape through and somehow triumph. I’m betting on the latter. Am I wrong?”

Castiel sagged in his seat, looking defeated.

“But,” Gabriel continued.

Castiel looked up.

“ _If_ you do get something credible going, send a prayer my way and I’ll hear you out, okay?”

Castiel nodded, accepting it was the best he would get tonight.

“Very well.” He stood up, and a put a five down on the table to cover his coffee. “I’ll leave you two to your lunch.”

“Castiel?” Gabriel said as Castiel began to leave.

“Yes?”

“When I said pray to me, I meant it. Ketch isn’t my secretary, stop treating him like it.”

Castiel gave a nod. “I understand. Apologies, Ketch.”:

One of the vaunted trio apologizing to him? Another sign that they had indeed entered the end times, again.

*

Group Chat -> Sewing Circle

 **Alexander Smith:** Is this real life?

 **Arthur Grimble:** Is this just fantasy? Why are we quoting Queen lyrics?

 **Alexander Smith:** Because Gabriel somehow found a drunk angel and now they are both drunk and in my living room and singing karaoke to Queen.

 **Tabitha Cabot** : Please tell me you’re getting video.

Ketch stood up and started a group video chat. Once connected, he flipped the camera so the they could watch Gabriel and his angel friend Indra headbanging along to the guitar solo.

“Look at them go!” Rowena cooed.

“This is amazing,” Crowley said awed.

Gabriel, perhaps unsurprisingly, was a total camera hog and played it up even more once he realized he had an audience, earning himself a standing ovation when it was all over and done.

“Bravo,” Ketch said.

Crowley raised his beer in a toast. “Indeed.”

“Fantastic!” Rowena cooed before getting a smirk on her face. “You’re up next aren’t you Ketch?”

He’d had a drink but was still pretty sober.

“Why, yes, he is!” Gabriel said slapping his back, pressing a drink into his hand.

“Too soon!” Ketch protested as he took a large gulp of alcohol. Granted, he’d been pretty sober back in Japan, but that was in front of an audience of people he’d never see again. Rowena and Crowley would have no quarter.

“I’ll call you back when he’s ready,” Gabriel promised. “It won’t be too long,” he said with confidence.

Ketch raised his brow.

Gabriel winked at him.

That did nothing for his confidence.

*

When he woke up in the morning, he was surprised to find himself in bed. He wasn’t quite sure how he got there, but he was pleased none the less.

His head pounded, he swore he’d only had two or three drinks and it hadn’t _tasted_ any stronger.

That didn’t mean he wouldn’t put it past Gabriel to amp it a little bit, not when they were in such a safe environment.

He debated rolling over and trying to go back to sleep to sleep off the headache when the delicious scent of coffee wafted upstairs.

He might normally prefer his tea, but some traditions were traditions for a reason, and Gabriel did brew an excellent cup of coffee.

Decision made, he put on a pair of warm-up pants and threw on an undershirt before padding downstairs. Not his best look, but he didn’t really care either until he realized it wasn’t Gabriel in his kitchen, but Indra.

“Hello,” Indra said looking abashed. “Gabriel ran out for pastries, but said he’ll be back soon. Coffee?”

“No doubt went to Paris to pick them up,” Ketch said amused as he gratefully reached out for the mug. Inhaling the rich aroma, he swore that he felt his headache begin to ebb, even if he knew coffee didn’t work that way. “Mmm,” Ketch said. “This tastes, pardon the pun, heavenly.”

Indra froze like a dear in the headlights.

When Gabriel had introduced the angel last night, he’d only given Ketch a name, but it hadn’t been hard to deduce that Indra was an angel. That Gabriel had gone to check out the situation in Heaven before magically showing up at his help with a friend a few hours later was a rather large clue to that.

“I know what you are,” Ketch said. “And I’m well aware that Gabriel is _the_ Gabriel, so you can relax.” He took another sip of his drink. His headache was definitely improving. “And whatever you did to this, I thank you. I really should ask Rowena about spells to cure hangovers on my own.”

Indra relaxed a little and looked sheepish. “I thought it was the least I could do after we invaded your home so selfishly last night. He just said you wouldn’t mind.”

Invaded wasn’t an entirely unfair word. He’d come home from sparring practice to find the two already deep into their second bottle.

“And indeed, I didn’t,” Ketch agreed. “He’s probably the one person…angel…friend,” he corrected himself “that I’d ever give such a privilege to.”

Indra nodded solemnly. “Gabriel called you his friend as well.”

Ketch felt Indra’s eyes on him. It was that kind of look that Gabriel gave him when he was being assessed. It always felt invasive, somehow, even more so since it didn’t feel as if Indra had earned that same privilege. He took another sip of the coffee. His headache had been retreating with each sip, and he found himself thinking quite clearly now.

“Do I pass muster?” Ketch asked. Although he had no particular desire to do so, he wouldn’t hesitate to activate the angel warding on his house if he thought Indra was going to become a threat to him.

“I do not know how I feel,” Indra admitted. “You are not a good person – you slaughter your fellow man for profit and have killed many of Father’s Creations for questionable motives – but you are unquestionably loyal to Gabriel and seem genuine in your desire to help rid the world of Lucifer.”

“Humans are fallable beings, Indra,” Gabriel said as he reappeared with a box of pastry. “Not that it matters what you think about Ketch, because neither you, nor Naomi, nor any of the rest of the Host are going to touch him, are you?”

Ketch saw Indra’s eyes widen slightly then flinch under Gabriel’s unceasing stare.

“Of course not, Gabriel”

Gabriel grinned. “Excellent!” He opened the box. “Tuck in. Fresh from Vienna!”

Ketch peered over the box and selected a croissant. “Threatening others for little old me?” Ketch asked. “You’re making me swoon!” He watched as the croissant flaked beautifully in a way that American-made ones never seemed to.

“Anything for my boo,” he replied as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

“So how did you two come to drinking in my house anyway?” Ketch said changing the subject.

“I went to check out Cassie’s claim and found Indra here riding the rocking horse on the playground. You know me though, I couldn’t just leave him to sit there to drink alone!”

“You are a good friend,” Ketch said.

“You know it,” Gabriel said.”

Ketch looked at Indra. “So what now?”

Indra shrugged. “Not a whole heck of a lot we CAN do. We take turns staying in Heaven to try and keep the proverbial lights on. There are rumors of a prophecy about someone who can defeat Lucifer, but we don’t have the angel-power to try and investigate it.”

Gabriel froze mid-sip of coffee and Ketch stood up a little straighter.

“Repeat that,” Gabriel ordered.

“There’s a prophecy. A follower of one of those heathens, that none the less has a history of accurate predictions.  She said, _“_ chaos ended but lives on. His marked one will gather strange bedfellows to take on the Morning Star. In his night, a new day begins.”

There was silence for an extended moment.

Gabriel began to laugh. “Oh my Dad!”

“No,” Ketch muttered under his breath.

“I am _so_ calling you the Boy Who Lived from now one,” Gabriel chuckled.

Ketch groaned and a quick glance at Indra revealed an angel that wasn’t sure if he was confused or angry.

“What am I missing?” Indra asked.

Gabriel sighed heavily. “All right. Bear with me here. So short story time: While away from home, I moonlight as Loki.”

“As Loki,” Indra said with disbelief.

“The Chaosbringer,” Gabriel said helpfully. “Anyway we got into a bit of a tiff, he tried to kill me, I killed him instead.”

“Chaos dies,” Ketch added helpfully as he began to drain his coffee.

“I’m still technically taking prayers,” he continued.

“Chaos lives on,” Ketch rolled up his sleeves to reveal the brand. “Marked follower here.”

“He’s technically Loki’s Head Priest,” Gabriel said helpfully. “Apparently the universe takes jests seriously.”

“And I’m working with a witch and her son to try and figure out a way to take down Lucifer,” Ketch added helpfully. “It could be seen as a rather strange bedfellow.”

Indra stared at the two of them for a very long time, clearly processing the last few minutes. “I have one question. Am I still drunk?”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucifer says hello, the Winchesters say WTF, and Rowena ships is so damn hard. Also, shit starts to get real.

Group Chat - > Sewing Circle

**Arthur Grimble:** A prophecy, huh?

**Gabriel Fox:** He’s a regular Boy Who Lived! I expect him to win the House Cup for Slytheirn.

**Alexander Smith:** House cup? If I survive this, I want the damn Order of Merlin.

**Arthur Grimble:** But the real question is, are the boys upset you’re stealing their thunder?

**Alexander Smith** : What do you mean?

**Arthur Grimble:** Think about it. They made friends with an angel. You made friends with an archangel. They were to be the meat suits of Michael and Lucifer. You’re the one meant to kill Lucifer.

**Gabriel Fox** : You know, this is making me want to drop a hint to Castiel that the prophecy exists. It could be fun when they figure it out.

**Tabitha Cabot** : Oh how can you not! If nothing else, you can watch them chase their tail for a few weeks as they try and figure it out.

**Alexander Smith** : It almost seems cruel.

**Arthur Grimble** : Key word, almost.

**Gabriel Fox** : Speaking of, are you ever going to let the brothers know about you?

**Arthur Grimble:** I’ve thought about it, but decided against it for the time being. I don’t want their pity and I don’t want their grumbling that I didn’t tell them sooner. If our paths come to cross, then so be it.

**Alexander Smith** : How practical of you.

**Arthur Grimble:** One of us has to be.

**Gabriel Fox:** Not it.

**Alexander Smith:** You wouldn’t be you if you were.

**Tabitha Cabot** : How tooth rottingly sweet. *vomit emoji* We’ve got an early start tomorrow. Good evening, gents.

*

The next few days the quest to defeat Lucifer was as it had ever been: going no where fast. Annoying, though the prophecy foretold of their success, it didn’t bother such good to know information as _when_ or more importantly _how_.

The grimoire that Gabriel had translated had yet to yield anything definitively useful, but he’d been making notes to run suggestions past Rowena once he was done reading. He now had a small collection of hex bags and several successful test runs behind him. He was extraordinarily pleased with how easy it was to use them and now made sure to carry one at him at all times.

Really though, all this activity made him appreciate his time at the MMA gym that much more. It was a way to reground himself, a way to let go of the stresses of the search. One of benefit of the gym was a small attached weight gym attached that was free for members to use. He liked to get a workout in before sparring, it got his head into the right space and focused.

“Hey Ketch! Can you come over?”

He finished his rep, grabbed his towel, and turned to answer Leo, but froze as he did.

Lucifer gave him a jaunty wink.

He’d know what Lucifer looked like of course, but had never really met him. It struck Ketch that Lucifer’s vessel alone was imposing. The man was no taller than he was, but there was a physicality to the presence that only reinforced that sense of power that the vessel can contained.

“You guys know each other?” Leo asked.

“We have a mutual acquaintance,” Lucifer said. “Indra said I might run into you here.”

Ketch’s blood managed to run even colder, he wasn’t even sure if that was possible.

“What a small world,” Ketch said with a tight smile.

Leo clapped his hands on both men.

“Why don’t you take a round so I can gage his skillset, Ketch?” Leo suggested.

“Of course,” Ketch said. “I’d be delighted to.”

It was the last thing he really wanted to do, but he also didn’t trust Lucifer to not kill the others in the dojo if he did, and he didn’t have a ready excuse to explain why he was so reticent even if he could.

He took his place, and hoped for the best.

*

He got his ass kicked.

Every move he made, Lucifer countered.

Every hold Lucifer got on him, Lucifer took to the extreme, pushing Ketch’s body to the limit without actually breaking any bones or doing anything that would technically be deemed illegal. He would have been bruised up and down his body had he not cast his protection spell as he always did the days he went to class – something he instantly decidedly to do every day now, at least for the time being.

“Having fun yet?” Lucifer asked just loud enough for only him to hear, eyes glowing red. “I’m going to have so much fun playing with you when you inevitably fail. I’m going to tear you apart inch, by inch, by inch until you can no longer scream, then when you’re dead, I’ll bring you back to life so I can start all over again. Hours and hours of entertainment!”

Ketch took the moment of gloating to successfully throw Lucifer. It felt good, until he saw Lucifer’s eyes glowing again.

Perhaps Leo was actually God, because Leo then blew the whistle to end the bout.

“Enough.” The coach said. “Good recovery at the end there, Ketch. Go take a water break.”

He fled to the other side of the dojo with as much cool grace that he could muster.

*

The rest of the session had passed in a blur, and he’d begged off the weekly after-training beer. Even if Lucifer hadn’t been invited, he doubted he could pay the others the attention they deserved.

Group Chat: Sewing Circle

**Alexander Smith** : Lucifer knows.

**Tabitha Cabot** : What do you mean he knows?

**Alexander Smith:** He showed up tonight at my mma class.

**Gabriel Fox** : What did he say to you?

**Alexander Smith** : Promised to use me as his chew toy ‘when’ I fail.

**Arthur Grimble** : Welcome to the club. But you’re alive, and as there isn’t a Breaking News alert screaming at me at my phone, I take it everyone in your class survived as well?

**Alexander Smith:** Seems that way.

All of the something, a very sold hand connected with the back of his head.

“Ouch!” Ketch explained, the pain coming through before the realization Gabriel had materialized in his house. “Was that necessary?!”

“You should have prayed to me! I could have at least kept an eye on the lesson!”

Ketch faltered as he heard the worry in Gabriel’s voice.

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “I was a bit frozen in the moment, I suppose.”

Gabriel smacked him again once more.

“What was that for?!”

“To make sure the lesson sinks in.”

**Arthur Grimble** : Well isn’t that lucky then.

**Alexander Smith** : It was. Though for the record, Gabriel hits almost as hard. I feel like an angelic punching bag tonight!

**Tabitha Cabot** : Does he now? Did you enjoy it?

**Alexander Smith** : No! He hit the back of my head for not calling him!

**Gabriel Fox** : You deserved it! Lucifer could have killed you!

**Tabitha Cabot** : Then consider yourself lucky you didn’t get the switch. That’s how we used to handle it back in the day. Don’t you remember that dearie?

**Arthur Grimble** : Mother!

**Tabitha Cabot** : He used to cry and cry. He’d these really sad tears on his face before I even touched him!

**Arthur Grimble** : Don’t make me hex you!

**Tabitha Cabot** : I’d be impressed if you pulled it off!

**Alexander Smith** : I think we’re getting off the subject. If Lucifer knows about me, then we have to assume he knows about Gabriel. Either way, I think we have to try and act sooner rather than later. He doesn’t seem to have the longest attention span. And I rather be toyed with then dead.

**Arthur Grimble** : So have you magically come up with an idea between the last time we talked and now?

**Gabriel Fox** : I may be able to help.

Ketch looked at Gabriel as he pulled out the strangest looking angel blade he’d ever seen.

“What is it?”

“An archangel blade.”

“So you’re agreeing to help then?”

“If he knows about me, then there’s no reason to keep hiding, is there? I rather throw my lot in with the group of evil bastards who don’t want to end the world.”

Ketch snorted.

“You say the sweetest things. Let’s tell the others.”

*****

“It does exist,” Crowley said breathlessly. “I’d heard rumors, of course, but nothing I could ever substantiate.”

They were now on a conference call instead. Ketch refused to be that guy who texted the friend five feet away from him.

“Of course not,” Gabriel said in a way that suggested that Crowley was an idiot for thinking he might have even had a chance of locating it. “Michael is in lock down, Raphael is apparently exploded…”

“Oh, so that’s what happened to him,” Crowley said, sounding satisfied that he had the answer to a question. “What? It was obvious he didn’t survive Castiel’s little God phase, but I wasn’t about to ask him for details.”

“Are you afraid of him, Fergus?” Rowena asked intuitively.

“With his track record, any sane being should be.”

“I’m pretty sure if my fate had been up to Castiel,  he’d let me bleed out,” Ketch opined.

“See? Ketch gets me. Thank you,” Crowley said with a nod.

“You’re welcome,” Ketch said agreeably.

“Back to the discussion at hand,” Gabriel demanded as he redirected the conversation. “The issue with me using my blade is that I am the only one who can wield it to kill him. That means we have to find a way to slow him down, but ideally stop and/or paralyze him.”

“It makes you wish there were angel traps,” Crowley groused.

“There’s Holy Oil?” Ketch suggested.

“He’ll still have full access to his powers, and he can still do a lot of damage that way.”

“I know some spells that can paralyze. I don’t know if they can work on an angel, but maybe it at least will slow him down?” Rowena offered. “If nothing else, I know plenty of distraction spells. I’ll teach them to Fergus.”

“Annoying is good,” Gabriel agreed. “He can’t monologue if he keeps looking over his shoulder because he’s getting interrupted.”

“I have an idea that may prove to be controversial,” Ketch said slowly.

“What’s that?” Rowena asked.

“We need to bring in the Winchesters,” Ketch said.

“Why on earth do we want to do that?” Crowley reasonably asked.

Even Gabriel was giving him a quizzical brow.

“I know, I know. But this alternate universe that exists the humans have been waging war with the angels. They may not be winning the war, but they have not been made completely extinct either. That tells me they must have some kind of weapon they are fighting back with. I’m sure it won’t kill Lucifer, but it seems a little more reliable than Rowena throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Lucifer. That could free her up for a larger magical blast as it were if needed. Plus, it allows us to ask Castiel to check up on Indra,” Ketch said looking at Gabriel.

Gabriel gave him a small nod and a slight smile. Ketch knew that Gabriel had been worried since he’d learned that Lucifer knew, but didn’t want to tempt fate by poking around Heaven. Lucifer could see it as a provocation and cause him to act.

“Either way, even if I call up Castiel, it’s almost inevitable the brothers will get involved.”

“Almost?” Crowley asked. “They want the wanker dead as bad as mother and I. And if the smart thing to do is to let us handle it, then you can be sure that they will.”

No one could really argue with that.

“Will that be okay?” Ketch asked.

He could hear the shrug in Crowley’s voice. “It’s fine. If I temporarily die again, then I can go knowing I gave them a piece of my mind.”

“And on that cheery note,” Ketch said. “I’ll give them a call and let you know what happens.”

*

“Ketch,” Castiel’s gravelly voice answered the voice and he could hear the hum of the Impala in the background. “This is a surprise.”

“Ketch? Why is Ketch calling you?” Dean called out.

“Go ahead and put this on speaker phone,” Ketch instructed. “It’ll save us both the effort.”

There was some fumbling. “Okay,” Castiel said. “What is you want?”

Ketch had nothing against small talk; but it always seemed wasted when the relationship was one of little more than tolerance.

“It’s quite a long story, but basically there’s a prophecy that says I’ll kill Lucifer for reasons only known to Gabriel’s Father, Lucifer found out about it from Indra, and so now we’re pushing up our timetable before Lucifer just decides to wipe me out and I need your intelligence on what humans from the Apocalypse World have been using to fight the angels.”

“Excuse me?” Castiel.

“How are the humans fighting back in Apocalypse world?”

“Wait, wait, go back,” Dean said.

“To which part?”

“All of it.” Dean said.

“The prophecy exists. I don’t know where the angels found out about it, but they did. I tick the criteria, Lucifer seems to believe it, and Lucifer believing it got Gabriel on board. With Gabriel on board, he can use the Archangel blade on Lucifer, but we have to nullify him enough to give Gabriel a good shot. Holy oil will help, but that only contains him. Rowena can distract him with spells if need be, but I rather she be available for something more heavy duty in case of emergency because this is _Lucifer_ and not planning for contingencies of contingencies just seems incredibly unwise.”

“You’re working with Gabriel _and_ Rowena on this?”

“Is that such a surprise?” Ketch asked honestly. “Castiel met Gabriel and I at the diner, and you knew that I’ve remained in contact with Rowena.”

“I thought Gabriel hated Rowena.”

“They’ve come to terms,” he said simply. That was all the Winchesters really needed to know.  If Gabriel wanted to share more, that was for the archangel to divulge.

The sound on the phone got muffled as the men discussed it. Ketch got up and refilled his mug while they deliberated.

“Angel blade bullets,” Castiel finally said when someone came back online. “They were using bullets made from melted down angel blades.”

Ketch blinked. “That’s bloody brilliant,” he said admiring the elegant simplicity of that weapon. “Do you know how it might impact Lucifer?”

“Just like a regular angel blade,” he replied. “It was definitely slow him down, though it won’t be fatal.”

“That would work,” Ketch mused. “If I had access to the blades,” he said with a sigh.

“I can help with that,” Castiel said. “There is still an armory up in Heaven. We gathered the blades of our fallen brethren when we could, partially in memorial and partially because the last thing we need on Earth is demons getting their hands on them. I will make the trip to Heaven in the guise of the search for Michael. I will talk to Indra if I can, and grab a blade or two. There was no real inventory taken. One or two missing won’t be noticed, if Naomi even cared.”

“Thank you, Castiel,” Ketch said. “And don’t mention Gabriel to anyone other than Indra, if possible. We don’t know what the rest of Heaven does or doesn’t know about his involvement, and if we can keep it quiet, so much the better. We need all the elements of surprise we can get.”

 

“I understand.”

*

When they convened it was a week later, the amount of time it took for the Winchesters to grab Jack, drive up to the sandbox of Heaven, Castiel to make then run, and then head to New York after a quick layover in Ohio to dispatch a werewolf. According to Jack’s call this morning, they were due in early afternoon.

Jack had sounded like he’d lost the coin toss when he’d called earlier.

Rowena and Crowley, on the other hand, were due to arrive any minute, they’d arrived in town the night before and stayed in the bed and breakfast.

Ketch set a full kettle on to boil, Rowena had promised to bring him tea. Yes, he knew he could order it online, but he hated paying the ridiculous shipping fees. It was the principal of the matter.

“Honey! I’m home!” Gabriel called out as he strolled into the kitchen with a box of donuts from the local shop in town. Normally not something he enjoyed, these managed to be so light that they were a favorite indulgence of his.

“Welcome back, darling” Ketch absently, never mind that Gabriel didn’t actually live there.  Although they’d let their friends know that they weren’t _actually_ an item the digging was still there and Gabriel

“Well, finally!” Rowena’s crisp accent preceded her into the kitchen. “About time you two!”

Ketch and Crowley groaned simultaneously.

“Mother!” Crowley complained.

“You set me up!” he accused Gabriel.

“Maybe,” he replied with a smirk. “And I saw them coming down the road when I got here, so I let them in.”

“Make yourself at home, why don’t you?”

“I’m just waiting for the invitation.”

Ketch snorted and then turned his attention back to his guests. “Please. Help yourself. I’ve got a kettle on so we can make some tea,” he said as he looked at Rowena hopefully.

“Don’t worry, dearie, I deliver what I promise,” she said as he pulled out a small tin of tea.

“Bless you,” he said as he opened it and inhaled the fragrant mixture. “You want some, Gabriel?”

Gabriel made a face. “I can’t understand your guy’s fascination with that stuff.”

Ketch sniffed. “I could say the same about your coffee addiction.” Except he could, because he didn’t actually hate it, but still.

Gabriel waved a dismissive hand. “I wouldn’t want you to waste the good stuff on me. I’ll just make myself a cup of coffee,” he said nodding over at the coffee maker. Gabriel used it more than Ketch did.

Ketch nodded and as he began steeping the tea, Gabriel started his coffee, the two moving about the kitchen with the ease of roommates, even if they weren’t.

“Well isn’t this so _domestic_ ,” Rowena said. “The lovely house, the white picket fence. Are you getting the dog or the children next?”

“I’m more of a cat person, actually,” Ketch said.

“A man after my own heart,” Crowley approved.

“They best animal,” Rowena agreed. “Rescue a black one would you, poor things get killed because they thing they’re our familiars and all that.”

“Did you ever get approached by one? A familiar, that is?” He put out a pitcher of milk and some sugar cubes onto the table in his fine china. He never got to break it out, and a proper tea service was only fitting.

Rowena tore at her donut delicately. “I’ve never been so lucky,” she said. “But they aren’t exactly a dime a dozen.” She shrugged. “I’ve done well enough for myself on my own. Would you take one if approached?”

Ketch brought the pot of tea over and served some to everyone before sitting himself and taking a donut for himself.  

“Please, why would anyone approach me? I’m just a dabbler.”

“You never know,” Crowley said. “You did land yourself an archangel.”

Ketch mused. “Does that make him my familiar then?”

Gabriel smirked and in a blink of an eye a sandy colored fox was nipping at his heels.

“I think he decided for you,” Rowena said.

“Does he play fetch?” Crowley asked.

Gabriel yipped and bit Crowley.

“Ouch! That wasn’t necessary!”

“Oh, but it totally was,” Gabriel said as he reappeared in his seat.

“If you gents ever get bored, let me know and I’ll send you the address of a witches bar. The fun you could have inspiring jealousy in there…” she smirked.

Ketch finished his tea.

“Could be fun,” Ketch said. “We could make a tour of it even.”

“Oooh,” Gabriel said. “Count me in.”

“Speaking of,” Rowena said as she finished her tea. “I promised a lesson, did I not? Show me your work area.”

Rowena had surprisingly been the one to offer, and it seemed foolish to not accept.

After a few minutes to clean up – and Crowley to finish his tea – the group retreated to the library/practice area that Ketch had set up. The library was still small, but the collection was already starting to grow. Gabriel’s love of books meant that every few days Ketch was given/came home to discover a new book or two for his collection. It could be a lore book, a new grimoire, or even just some piece of fiction that Gabriel happened to enjoy that he thought Ketch would too. Ketch thought it was how Gabriel spent the overnight hours since he didn’t need sleep. He didn’t ask, because when Ketch had tried to insist that Gabriel didn’t need to give him the books, Gabriel had gotten offended. From that point on, he’d simply accepted the gifts graciously and tried to not pay too much mind that inevitably many of the gifted books were original first editions, if not downright priceless.

“For someone who proclaims to be a dabbler, this is quite fancy,” Crowley opined.

“Quite,” Rowena said, but there was a note of proudness in her voice. “But if we ever settle one day, Fergus, it would be wise for you to do the same. For students, that echo of magic used when cast starts to build up and can serve as a bit of an amplifier. The effect isn’t enormous by any means, but sometimes it’ll help you practice a wee bit easier.”

She stared at the protective circle he’d drawn on the floor.  “Are those Nordic runes?” she asked as her finger traced one of them.

“Loki?” Crowley asked as he read them. Enochian had been his primary focus of study while King of Hell, but he’d dabbled plenty in some of the other esoteric magical languages.

Gabriel’s face was carefully neutral. He’d been in here before, of course, but it seemed as if he never paid much mind to whatever magical project Ketch was working on.

Ketch shrugged. “In my research,” dabbler or not he intended to do this right, “several sources suggested that an aspect of faith can help amplify protective magics. Normally one prays to Hecate or Diana, but nothing said it _has_ to be one of them, so I figured why not pray to the one who I have absolute faith in,” he said with a shrug. He felt like he should be embarrassed by that, but he just wasn’t.

“That’s so romantic!” Rowena swooned. She looked at Gabriel. “Can you feel it when he casts?” she asked out of curiosity. There were plenty of stories about the demi-goddesses reaching out to followers during spells, but Rowena never was sure if she believed them or if they were just students trying to eke out a bit more prestige amongst the naturals.

Gabriel nodded. “It’s not like a prayer, prayer, but it’s woven into his magic. I notice it.”

“You never told me!” Ketch said.

“You never asked,” Gabriel said. “Besides, you _are_ my head priest and more importantly my friend. Did you really think I was going to _not_ notice you shooting prayers my way?”

Ketch didn’t really have an answer to that.

“C’mon, get to work,” Gabriel said with a little clap. “Daylights a wasting and the Winchesters are probably on an hour or two away. Make good use of this time as you can. Tomorrow ain’t go to be no picnic.”

*

Ketch felt energy racing along his skin. The three of them had been practice triple casting and Rowena’s power was so immense that when the echoes of her magic reflected back on him it was a heady feeling and he couldn’t imagine carrying that much power inside her, let alone what kind of power Gabriel himself must be wielding. Rowena had called the session a success and when they’d broken the circle, Ketch was surprised to find that Gabriel was no longer in the room. He was wander out and figure out where his friend was, when he wandered back in himself.

 “Just got a call form Castiel,” Gabriel said as he returned to the room. “They’re just down the road and will be here any minute.”

“You finally gave him your number?” Ketch asked surprised.

“Nah,” Gabriel said. “Your phone was ringing and you were so wrapped up in your little spell that you didn’t hear. Everything good here?”

“I feel fantastic,” Ketch said.

“It’ll slowly fade off in a few hours,” Rowena advised, “and then you’ll sleep hard tonight. Our magic is surprisingly compatible. It’ll be of help to use tomorrow.” Compatible magic was stronger magic. An amped up Rowena was only good news for their team in this fight.

“Excellent,” he said. “C’mon. We better get ready for our company. This little reunion is going to be _interesting_.”

As if on cue, a bell rang impatiently as one could.

“Well, times up,” Ketch said. “Are you ready for this?” he asked Crowley.

“As I’ll ever be,” he said as they returned to the front of the house.

“Why don’t you retire to the living room, and I’ll bring everyone in?” Ketch suggested.

“I have a better idea.” Crowley said.

The doorbell rang once more.

Crowley opened it.

“Hello, boys.”


	5. Dedicant

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there are bitch faces, Crowley explains himself (kinda), plans to stop Lucifer are made (even if stupid), and Jack grills Ketch on his intentions towards Gabriel (yes, really.)

“This is not fucking funny, Gabriel, knock it off,” Dean scowled, refusing to believe his eyes.

“Knock what off?” Gabriel said popping up behind Crowley. “This is 100% legitimate human Crowley.”

“Let’s get inside and we’ll discuss this,” Ketch said. “If I had neighbors, they’d be staring right about now.”

“Really, Fergus, you couldn’t have waited until they were inside?” Rowena chastised him as the others filtered into the house.

“Would any of you care for a donut?” Ketch offered. “We’ve some leftovers from this morning.”

“Uh. No thanks,” Jack said. “But do you have whiskey? Dean has that look on his face that says he needs to drink.”

“I’ll grab it,” Gabriel said as he disappeared, escaping the tension that now weighed down the entire room as the Winchesters and their friends all sat down on the couch while Rowena and Crowley took the loveseat.

Ketch made a mental note that he could use some more furniture, as he grabbed a pair of chairs from the dining room for him and Gabriel.

“Fuck,” Dean said wiping his face in shock. “I’m not even sure what I want to ask first.”

“Maybe we’ll go with an introduction first?” Rowena suggested. “Who is this young fellow?”

“I’m Jack,” he offered with a little wave.

“Jack?”

“Lucifer’s son,” Sam offered.

“Right! Pleasure to meet you,” she said. “And this is my son, Fergus.”

“Nice to meet you. Please,” he said, “Call me Crowley.”

“You are the other one that Dean wanted back,” Jack realized.

Crowley looked at Dean, with a look on his face that could easily read as guilt.

“I thought you said you weren’t going to pine,” Rowena said.

“I’m not pining,” Crowley protested with a hint of whine in his voice.

“How?” Sam asked finally.

“A favor for a favor,” Ketch said. “I wanted to renew my death-proof charm. I had cash, of course, but she wanted her son back.”

“But you couldn’t bring him back,” Sam said. “ _Jack_ couldn’t bring him back. He’s still not even sure how he brought Castiel back.”

“But I could,” Gabriel said. “Or rather, the Big E could let him go. I just asked nicely.”

“How did she know to ask?” Castiel wondered.

“He was with me the night I went to ask for her assistance.” Ketch said.

“Gabriel was his muscle,” Rowena clarified. “He took great pleasure in threatening me.”

“Sorry, not sorry,” Gabriel said with a shrug.

“Why?” Castiel asked.

“Because friends help friends, duh.” Gabriel said with an eye roll. “You guys are something else, acting like Ketch could make me do anything I didn’t want to.”

“I can’t even get him to knock before entering,” Ketch agreed.

Rowena tried to hold back a snicker, but failed.

“I meant my _house_ , not my bedroom nor the bathroom,” Ketch said with an eye roll.

“Are they always like this?” Jack asked Crowley.

“They’ve only been getting worse,” Crowley opined. “If they ever pull their heads out of arses, you’d be calling him Uncle Ketch.”

Castiel made a face. “That may be the case, but we are getting off topic here.”

“Yeah,” Dean said. “Like how Crowley’s been alive for _months_ and no one told us!” He looked at Ketch accusingly. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“It wasn’t for me to tell,” Ketch said honestly.

“And in an ideal world, he wouldn’t even be here right now,” Rowena said. “If I had it my way, he’d be out of harms way, safe. But it was his choice to reveal himself to you, and you’ll respect it.” There was an implied threat in there that, while Ketch couldn’t blame her, he still found counterproductive.

Castiel cleared his throat. “Right. I spoke to Indra while in Heaven.”

Gabriel immediately straightened up.

“He is well,” Castiel confirmed, and Ketch caused the almost imperceptible sigh of relief from his friend. “Lucifer walked in while he was telling the others. Lucifer was not pleased, but did not move against him because he knew that he couldn’t and keep his perch.” He tilted his head. “And he seemed to be firm in his belief that you are the one and said I could see the proof for myself.”

“Very well,” Ketch said as he rolled up his sleeve to make the brand visible to all. “Here you go.”

“Yikes,” Sam winced, knowing how painful that must have been. “How did you get that?” Sam asked. “You didn’t have that the last time we saw you, but that looks like it healed a while ago.”

“A gift from Loki.”

“Gabriel did that to you?” Dean asked skeptically.

“Hell no!” Gabriel immediately replied, severely offended.

Ketch looked at Gabriel. “They really don’t know?”

He shrugged. “Never had cause to tell them. In fact, aside from the quartet of demigods we sent to The Empty, you’re the only one that’s ever known.”

Ketch stood a little straighter and a little more smug than he had a moment ago. “No,” Ketch clarified to the others. “Actual Loki did.”

“Look, I made a deal with Loki. He got to put up his feet and I got to lay low from Heaven. After Apocalypse 1.0, Loki got pissy about Odin’s death and sold me out to Asmodeus. After Ketch rescued me, we took out Fenrir. Then Narfi kidnapped Ketch and Loki branded him because Loki doesn’t know how to make a point, and then I killed Loki and here we are. The scar, by the way, that was all Ketch’s request. I offered to heal it.”

“He did,” Ketch confirmed.

“Then why keep it?” Jack asked.

He shrugged. “We set out to avenge Gabriel, and we did. Scars from a job well done are a badge of honor.” He flashed a smirk at Gabriel, who returned it.

“But that does not explain you being a follower of Loki.”

“I went to pick up supplies from a magic store. She thought I was a dedicant. I told Gabriel, and since he started getting Loki’s prayers again, he named me his High Priest. Good enough for prophecy work.”

“Fuck it,” Dean finally said. “We’re already here and we have those angel blades you asked for. So what’s the plan?”

It didn’t take long to explain the plan: summon Lucifer, trap Lucifer in Holy Oil, shoot him full of angel blade bullets before Gabriel stabbed him.

“That’s it?” Dean asked.

Ketch shrugged. “The simplest plans are best.”

Castiel frowned. “He has a point.”

“If that’s the plan, then why are Rowena and Crowley here?” Sam asked. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Crowley said.

“Distraction,” Ketch said. “And some firepower in case the bullets aren’t enough to bring him down enough for the final strike.”

“We can still make him suffer,” Rowena purred. “We’ve been practicing for it. If we can’t deliver the final blow, we can still help kick him while he’s down.”

“That too,” Ketch said with an easy shrug.

The Winchesters had weird looks on their faces; like they wanted to criticize them for so clearly looking just _hurt_ Lucifer, but at the same point couldn’t actually do so.

“Will Gabriel just be waiting with us when you summon him?” Jack asked.

“No,” Ketch said. “We want his guard down. Even if he knows why he’s been summoned, he shouldn’t know the how of we plan to take him down and hopefully he’ll be cockier and easier to exploit. If he sees Gabriel, his guard will go up in a heartbeat.”

“How will Gabriel know to come in.”

“I’ll know,” Gabriel said with a mysterious smile.

Crowley rolled his eyes. “There’s a large tree in the open field we’ll be summoning him in. He’s planning on sitting in it.”

Jack glanced at Castiel. He clearly wanted to say something, but clearly reluctant to do so.

“You can say it, dearie,” Rowena encouraged.

“That sounds so stupid.”

Gabriel shrugged. “Simple is best. People miss what’s right under their eye. Besides, I want to be nearby if things go awry. You have a better idea?”

Jack stammered, “well, no.”

Gabriel didn’t reply, feeling content that his point had been made.

“Any other questions?”

There was some silent communication, but heads finally shook.

“Right,” Dean said as he pushed forward a bag of angel blades. “Got two of them. One should be plenty for the three of us, but you can never have too many of them.”

“Sounds good. Let’s go outside then, I’ve already set up.”

Gabriel clapped his hands. “You guys going to stay for dinner? I was going to order some barbecue.”

“You’re not going to cook for us?” Crowley asked, sounding disappointing.

“Only if you want food poisoning,” Gabriel replied.

“He’s not kidding either,” Ketch said as he opened the backdoor.

“It was only the one time!” he protested. “But yes, me cooking isn’t the best idea.”

“You have good ones?” Rowena quipped.

Gabriel flipped her off as Sam followed Ketch outside.

“You lose the coin toss to babysit me?” Ketch idly asked as he set the first blade in a metal trough and began pouring Holy Oil over the blade. “Ignem,” he muttered, the oil immediately spurted to  He’d gotten into the habit of using for small things when he could, trying to make the spells had had committed to memory become easier to use.

Sam blinked. “Did you just?”

“Yes,” Ketch said. “Some take up gardening after they retire, I took up magick. You can spare me the lecture, by the by. “Gabriel already did that for you.”

Sam put up his hands defensively.

They watched as the blade started to melt down.

“So, you and Gabriel, huh?”

“Me and Gabriel what?”

“You guys seem very…friendly.”

“That is how friends act towards one another, in case you didn’t know how that worked.”

“Well, yeah, but I mean, you yourself admitted that you rescued him to save your own hide.”

“So I did,” He used the silver blade he’d taken from the Chapterhouse to ensure that the blade was melting evenly. “But isn’t it funny what good beer and good conversation can do? Are the molds ready?”

“Right!” Sam stammered as he turned to the duffle bag and grabbed them to start setting them out.

 “This is ready to pour.”

“Ready here,” Sam said.

Ketch brought the pot over and began to fill the molds.

“You can go inside now,” Ketch said as Sam hovered. “You’ve ensured that I am doing what I said I would do with the angel blade.”

Sam tried to protest.

“Please, Sam, don’t insult my intelligence.” Ketch said with a sigh. “We both know that you’re only here because the chance to finally dispatch Lucifer. After we get done with this, we never have to cross paths again. You can go on with your lives, and we’ll go along with ours.”

Sam looked like he was going to say something, but instead, shut his mouth and went inside.

Ketch was able to enjoy being alone for all of a minute when Jack came out instead.

“May I help you?” he asked, trying to be pleasant. He was sure that Jack had heard every story the Winchesters had to tell, so braced himself for another interrogation.

“You are close with Gabriel?” he asked.

“I am,” Ketch said.

“What is he like?”

Huh. Ketch hadn’t expected that question. He paused in his pouring.

“He is a private person. I suppose that comes from millennia of hiding his true identity from the world. He likes books, he likes to _claim_ that he only ate sweets because of Loki but still very clearly has a sweet tooth. He loves exploring the world and humanity as a whole, even as if he still enjoys doling out a bit of Trickster-style justice now and then.” He paused, and shrugged. “Have you tried talking to him? He may have problems Lucifer, but he wouldn’t hold your father against you.” Ketch turned his attention back to the would-be bullets, but kept an open ear.

“I wanted to, and was going to try because Dean and Crowley are talking and it seemed like a good time, but he seems so tense right now that I didn’t think he’d be open to it.”

Ketch set the pot down and sighed heavily.

“Maybe not,” Ketch said slowly, “but not because of you. Gabriel doesn’t want to do this. Any of this. He’s thought of 2,319,317 things – an exact figure, according to him – that he’d rather be doing than fighting his brother. It’s weighing heavily on him.”

“Then why is he?” Jack asked.

Ketch frowned. Gabriel had said yes after having learned that Lucifer threatened him. He frowned deeper.

“Because of me, I suppose,” Ketch said to himself, more than Jack. The revelation hit him like a ton of bricks. He knew, but it was now he _knew_ and that thought was overwhelming.

“He likes you,” Jack said.

Ketch laughed lightly, trying to drive away the emotions that that revelation was threatening to dredge up. “He does.”

“Dean said that Gabriel is a good person.”

“He is,” Ketch said wholeheartedly. “I aspire to be more like him.”

“Good,” Jack said. “Then you won’t hurt him, and we won’t have to hurt you.”

Ketch blinked.

“That is what family does, right? Dean said that it’s family’s job to threaten those their loved ones care for to protect them.”

“It sure is,” Rowena said as the door opened once more. “Come in and wash up, boys. 5 minute warning on the food.”

“Right,” Ketch said still feeling slightly overwhelmed. “We’ll be right in.”

*

Dinner was not a disaster.

In fact, if he had to admit, it was so much a success you wouldn’t know that two, if not three, of the people in the room would be more than happy to kill him if he got the chance. Rowena and Crowley spent the meal catching up with Sam and Dean – Dean’s anger apparently worked out while he’d been outside casting the new bullets. Meanwhile, Gabriel had regaled Castiel and Jack with tales of his time as Loki – from the time he’d first met Loki to their adventures only a few short months ago – by which team Sam and Dean had given up any pretense of not trying to listen in.

“I think they looked impressed,” Ketch said as he and Gabriel finished cleaning up after the others had retired to their hotels for the night.

“Naturally. We were impressive,” Gabriel replied.

There was a moment of silence.

“You know, Jack gave me The Talk.”

“He knows how babies are made?” Gabriel joked.

Ketch snorted. “That is one thing we don’t have to worry about. But no. The _other_ talk. The don’t hurt him or else talk.”

“Aww,” Gabriel said. “How touching. He’s protective of me!” Gabriel narrowed his eyes. “You weren’t going to hurt me, were you?”

“No!” Ketch protested. “Of course not.”

“Then you’ve got nothing to worry about,” he replied clapping Ketch’s arm and giving him a big smile.

“You staying tonight?” Ketch asked.

Since he finished setting up the library, Gabriel found excuses to stay over and read through the night. Those excuses usually came with new books for said library, down to Ketch’s own collection of first edition erotica because Gabriel. Tonight though, he wanted the company.

“Sure. We should rewatch some Game of Thrones tonight. Get in the mood for some stabbing tomorrow.” There was levity, but Ketch knew that Gabriel was feeling as uneasy as he was, the enormity of what tomorrow would bring weighing heavily on his shoulders now that it was only hours away.

“I’ll make some popcorn.” 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Declarations are made, Ketch meets the parents, and Lucifer is finally dealt with.

The day had dawned clear, but by the time they’d gathered in the field, the skies had clouded over and a storm threatened. 

Ketch found the weather to meet the mood perfectly.

“I felt your spellwork this morning,” Gabriel idly said as he watch Ketch set out the herbs for the summoning ritual while keeping half-an eye on the others who were setting the holy oil ring and loading guns with angel blade bullets.

“Don’t you always feel it?”

“I do, but I try to and not listen in because those rituals are still meant to be private.”

Ketch smiled. “Considerate, as always.”

“I have my charms.”

“Occasionally.”

“Ouch!” Gabriel acted wounded. “But anyway I felt it. And I felt the fervor you put into it today. I feel like you got that spell as strong as you could make it. Just know I got your back, man. As much as I can. Please don’t do something stupid out there. I don’t have another Crowley to recover.”

Ketch looked up at Gabriel.

“Same. Lucifer is a dirty fighter and I don’t have any favors from celestial entities to cash in.”

The silence stretched out between them.

Gabriel gave him a quick hug.

He returned it.

“All ready, boys?” Rowena interrupted them, a hint of smile on her face but no quips on her tongue. The wind started to pick up. “It’s only going to get worse out here.”

Ketch let himself take a deep breath and steeled himself. “Let’s do this then. Places, everyone.”

*

The spell was disappointingly easy. Some burned herbs, some burned herbs and…

Poof.

One devil in a field.

“Ignem.” The Holy Oil satisfying came to light around Lucifer, who still didn’t look terribly impressed.

“Morning,” he said. “You coulda just called, you know.”

Ketch shrugged. “I felt like standing on ceremony today.”

Lucifer started looking at the group that were standing around the circle.

“Morning, Dean, morning, Sam.” He paused. “Jack? Really? I’m your _dad_!”

“You killed other angels just to help yourself! You even killed your brother to help yourself!” Jack said, sounding angry. “You don’t care about anyone but yourself!”

“But I needed to be strong to help the others.”

“If you have to hurt others, then you are helping none!”

With a disgruntled snark on his face, Lucifer continued scanning the cirle.

“Wait. You killed yourself, and you’re human now.”

“How observant,” Crowley said drolly. “Congratulations.”

“You should still _be_ dead.”

“And you should still be stuck in the Apocalypse World. We don’t always get what we want.”

Lucifer looked back at Ketch. “What makes this group so strange?”

“All those wanting to kill me, raise your hand.”

Dean, Sam and Castiel all obliged him.

“Okay, fine. What about being Loki’s marked follower?” Lucifer challenged him next.

Ketch took off his suit coat and tossed it on the duffle bag before rolling up the sleeve on his shirt. Every action was crisp and deliberate. He stepped close enough to where Lucifer could see it, but not within reaching distance.

“Oooh, gnarly,” Lucifer said. “Did it hurt when you got it?”

Ketch shrugged as he pulled his sleeve back down and redressed himself.

“Okay, so what? You’ve got a strange circle of friends and a fun little scar doesn’t mean anything. You still can’t beat me.”

Ketch drew his gun and shot Lucifer, once in the arm, and once in the chest.

“Ow!” Lucifer said staggering in the circle. “That hurts!” He laughed a little, even as he panted from the pain. “But it still won’t kill me.”

“It doesn’t have to,” Ketch said as Rowena and Crowley threw spells at Lucifer, causing him to stagger further to where he even fell on his ass. “It just needs to hurt, needs to weaken you.”

Now Lucifer just looked confused. “Then why are we here? You’re supposed to try and kill me, and I’m supposed to kill you. That’s how this day is supposed to go.”

“Because _I_ am going to be the one to kill you,” Gabriel said as he appeared behind Lucifer.

The look on Lucifer’s face was almost comical, though no one was laughing.

Lucifer spun around.

“Hey bro,” Gabriel said as he waved with his archangel blade.

“On second thought,” Ketch said calling attention back to himself. “I’m pretty sure that Gabriel is the reason we’re considered a strange group.”

“I killed you!” Lucifer scowled.

“You know, if I were you, I’d be trying to plead with me right now, not giving me another reason to fight you again.”

Dean shot him again, just for good measure.

“Ow! Stop that! We’re trying to have a conversation here!”

Lucifer turned back to Gabriel. “It was the Apocalypse! I was just doing as Dad planned!”

“Bullshit.” Gabriel called him out. “You just did it because you wanted to see Dad’s creations burn just to spite him.”

He shrugged. “Okay, so you’re not _entirely_ wrong. It was an added bonus. But what’s your story? You were in hiding forever and when you do pop up, it’s just to try and kill me. What gives?”

“I’m sick and tired of you trying to take things I love from me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I wasn’t planning on fighting you tonight, you know. I was going to sit on the sideline and then you just had to go threaten him.”

“Threaten who?” Lucifer asked, then paused and look at Ketch. “Wait. You want to kill me because I threatened _that guy?!_ I mean like, the Winchesters, sure. But him?!”

There were gasps and even some swearing, but it barely registered.

Ketch should have been annoyed that Lucifer was so dismissive of him, but quite honestly, he didn’t care. _Gabriel was willing to kill Lucifer himself for him_. It was so heady that it was dangerous. He could process later. Now was for making sure nothing happened to Gabriel.

“Yeah, him. I’d explain it to you, but you’d never understand because you never developed the ability to love anything other than yourself.”

Lucifer’s eyes glowed red. “Whatever. You’ve gone soft, Gabriel. It’s pathetic. But on the other hand, there’s nothing more remarkably tragic than dying only minutes after announcing your love to the world.”

“Let’s do this,” Gabriel said taking a step towards the ring of fire, which extinguished itself, as if responding to the will of the archangels.

For all Ketch knew, it was.

Lucifer pulled his own archangel blade from wherever he kept it. He looked at the circle with disdain. “We don’t need the color commentary.” He flicked his wrist and Ketch found himself flying.

He hit the ground with a thud, winded and a bit dizzy because he’s pretty sure he hit his head when he hit the ground. He could hear the sound of metal striking metal and he staggered to his feet to see the two of the archangels fighting.

The closer he got to the fight, the more he realized that Lucifer was using the same moves that Lucifer had used against him. Ketch had been all but helpless to fight back against them, he doubted Gabriel stood much better chance.

It felt like everything was in slow motion now.

He could hear Rowena and yelling at the pair, but the words made no sense and Lucifer seemed to be shrugging it all off.

Then there was a pair of thuds. Gabriel’s blade fell, and then Gabriel fell after it. Gabriel was trying to scramble, but Lucifer walked towards him with the confidence of knowing his opponent was down. The blade was arched overhead, ready to strike.

No. No. No.

“NO! NO!” he wasn’t sure when his monologue gone from internal to yelling at the top of his long, but he didn’t care. His ran as fast as his legs could carry him. He tackled Gabriel, trying to get him out of the way.

Pain exploded in his back and his world went black.

*

He was at the coffee shop in town, a cup of tea before him. He’d sometimes stop here and wait for Gabriel if they were going to dinner after Gabriel got off shift. He didn’t recognize the man before him though.

“You know, when humans go to Heaven, they to spend their time in their happiest memory. Yours is inside that store. It surprised me.”

Ketch stared dumbly as his newfound companion. “You know, I’m not even sure where to start.”

“Try me.”

“How am I getting into Heaven? Rowena’s spellwork was good, I should be getting back to life. _Why_ am I getting into Heaven? I know I’m not a good man. And for that matter, who are you?”

The man extended his hand.

“Hi, I’m Chuck. Gabriel’s dad. Nice to meet you.”

Ketch blink.

“Oh God.”

“Chuck is fine.”

“Apologies,” Ketch said trying to sound less fluttered. “This was not quite how I imagined this day going.”

“I’m sure you didn’t. But let’s get you back on level ground. You aren’t going to stay dead, but I figured this was a good time as any for us to have a little chat.”

“You wanted to talk to me?” The concept felt so bizarre. He was just a man, and not a particularly good one at this.

“Meeting the parents is a routine part of a healthy relationship.”

“But not before the first date!” Ketch protested.

Chuck waved a dismissive hand. “He loves you and you love him enough to sacrifice yourself to protect him. You got the important part down. The rest is just semantics.”

Ketch frowned. “Not really. Nothing’s changed, but everything’s changed.”

Chuck made a noncommittal noise.

“You’ll figure it out. I’m pulling for you guys.”

“You are?” Ketch was now fully sure that no day would ever have the revelations that today had had for him.

“I regret what happened with Lucifer. I really do.” He glanced over at the bookstore. “I don’t want that for Gabriel. I want to do right by at least one of My children. You are clearly a part of his happiness.” Chuck paused, then added, “Though I’d appreciate it if you stopped killing for money. I know retirement is hard, but have you thought about taking up writing instead? I’ve found it to be very cathartic.”

“Right, of course,” Ketch said. He wasn’t sure he could quite say no to God Himself.

“Anyway. I want to give you two a fair chance. I’ve gone ahead and stabilized Heaven so he doesn’t have to worry about that.”

“Do the other angels know?”

Chuck shrugged. “They should have figured it out by now. There’s still a lot of work to go, and I’ve got some ideas. I’m coming to dinner next Sunday, I’ll run it by him them.”

“I’m guessing he doesn’t know you’re coming to dinner?”

“You don’t have to cook, I’m good with takeout.”

Oh. Ketch was starting to figure out why the archangels had gotten annoyed with their father.

He put a fake smile on his face. “Does seven work?”

“Perfect!” Chuck stood. “Anyway, you need to get back.”

Ketch stood up to follow Chuck, not sure what else he needed to do.

“And one more thing….” Chuck added as Ketch’s world went black once more.

*

He gasped as he came back to. He turned his head to find Lucifer’s lifeless body beside him. Oh good.

“Ketch?!” Gabriel said running to his side.

“How long was I out?”

“Like a minute and a half,” Sam said as the others approached.

“You would be proud,” Crowley opined. “It took Lucifer about 10 seconds to realize he’d screwed up big time.”

Now that Gabriel had ascertained that he was alive, he wasn’t letting go. Ketch should be more uncomfortable, but it wasn’t, and quite frankly at this point in the day he was well past fighting any of it anymore.

“How?” Rowena asked. “My magick is the best, but even my spells can’t let you recover that quickly.”

“Chuck.” He looked at Gabriel. “Chuck? Really?” the absurdity of the name only now striking him.

“You spoke to God,” Jack asked, a little in awe.

“We were over at that coffee shop across from the bookshop,” he told Gabriel more than anyone else. “He said that he regretted the way things ended with Lucifer and didn’t want to make the same mistake with you. He stabilized Heaven so you didn’t have to worry about it.”

There were soft gasps.

“Do they know?” Castiel asked.

“He said they should know,” Ketch said.

“I’ll pop over later tonight,” Gabriel said. “There’s no reason for me to keep hiding from the others now.”

“Did he say anything else?” Dean asked.

“He invited himself to dinner next weekend because he wants to run some ideas by Gabriel about how to revamp Heaven given the current state of affairs.”

“We aren’t even living together!”

“I think he’s already decided that he likes the thought of being a father-in-law,” Ketch said as the words that Chuck told him as he came back to suddenly came to him.

“What makes you say that?” Crowley asked.

“He said he’s officiating the wedding.”

Gabriel’s eyes went comically wide, then groaned. “He did not.”

“He did.”

“I want to be in the wedding,” Rowena said. “I’ll be Ketch’s Maid-of-Honor.”

“I never agreed to be the bride!”

“It’s only a matter of time,” Dean said. “Chuck seems to get what he wants.”

Ketch gave Dean a bitchface. “That’s it, you aren’t invited.”

“What about me?” Jack asked.

“Of course you’ll be on the list,” Gabriel asked.

“Can we start with a date first?”

“I’d love to,” Gabriel said.” He looked down at Lucifer’s rapidly cooling corpse. “But maybe we should deal with this first?” he asked as he kicked the body.

“I can call in a favor,” Ketch said. He might as well spend the coins he had, given that he wasn’t going to be earning anymore any time soon.

“Do you really want to explain the wings and the horns?” Gabriel asked

“Point.”

“Let the boys do it,” Rowena suggested. “You two had a day of big revelations. I vote you two should go back to Ketch’s place and have that talk and maybe a little more,” she said suggestively. “I’m sure there won’t be any objections given how much the pair has done today?”

Sam opened his mouth to object, but shut it again at her glare.

“We’ll take care of this,” Castiel said reluctantly. “Will you let us know when you’ve spoken to the others.”

Gabriel gave a slight nod and grabbed Ketch’s hands. “Later, peeps.”

Ketch recognized that tug of being transported just before his world blinked out once more.

*

“You know, we could have just driven,” Ketch said as they appeared in the living room. “And we’re just going to have to go back and get the car anyway.”

“I brought it with us.”

Ketch snorted. “I’m pretty sure Castiel and Jack would consider that an abuse of power.”

“I killed my brother today. If anyone has earned the right to abuse their power, it’s me.”

Ketch frowned.

“I’m sorry.”

Gabriel fell onto the couch, now looking as drained as Ketch felt. “You know, I was always afraid that this is how that it was going end. Only, I expected it to be Michael to be the one to do it.”

Ketch sat down on the couch next to Gabriel, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to comfort Gabriel over Lucifer’s death, because, well, _Lucifer_. So he changed the subject.

“Did you really go beserk after he stabbed me?”

“Maybe,” he said. “Speaking of.” Gabriel slapped him upside the head. “I told you not to do anything stupid!”

“He would have killed you!”

Gabriel looked like he was going to say something, but instead Ketch found himself grabbed again, and Gabriel’s lips pressed against his.

Ketch’s surprise faded fast. Gabriel was the first man he’d ever kissed, but it was no less lovely for it. In fact, it might as well have been one of the best kisses that he’d ever had, which surprised him. Maybe there was something to Chuck’s words that they’d already done the hard part by falling in love.

“Oh.” Ketch said dumbly. He then looked at Gabriel. “I think you may need to make your point again. I can be a little slow on the uptake sometimes.”

Gabriel gave him a grin and obliged him and this time Ketch leaned in to meet him.

Yes. Yes, this definitely was still good.

“What now?” Ketch asked once they’d broken apart for the second time.

Gabriel shrugged. “Dad can sit on his heels while we take it at the pace you’re comfortable with. And when you are ready, I’ll blow your damn mind.”

Okay, that sounded good. He could handle that. He nodded.

“Sounds good. Stay?”

“As long as you want me to.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to the small handful of you that have gone on this journey with me. <3 It's always nice to find others who can enjoy that odd rarepair with you :)

**Author's Note:**

> So the way I figure it, our foursome are all not going to use their real name on Facebook for various reasons. Arthur's is for pure anonymity and Gabriel's fake last name is simply a reflection of his Trickster past. Rowena's name is taking from Tabitha (the witch from Bewitched) and Laurie Cabot (a famous American witch) and Crowley's is one of Alastair Crowley's real-life pseudonyms :)


End file.
